Gender differences in the prevalence of frailty in heart failure: A systematic review and meta-analysis

This study quantitatively synthesized literature to identify gender differences in the prevalence of frailty in heart failure (HF).

The intersection of frailty and HF continues to garner interest. Almost half of patients with HF are frail; however, gender differences in frailty in HF are poorly understood.

We performed a literature search to identify studies that reported prevalence of frailty by gender in HF. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to quantify the relative and absolute risk of frailty in women compared with men with HF, overall, and by Physical and Multidimensional Frailty measures. Meta-regression was performed to examine the influence of study age and functional class on relative risk in HF.

Twenty-nine studies involving 8854 adults with HF were included. Overall in HF, women had a 26% higher relative risk of being frail compared with men (95% CI = 1.14-1.38, z = 4.69, p < 0.001, I² = 76.5%). The overall absolute risk for women compared to men with HF being frail was 10% (95% CI = 0.06-0.15, z = 4.41, p < 0.001). The relative risk of frailty was slightly higher among studies that used Physical measures (relative risk = 1.27, p < 0.001) compared with studies that used Multidimensional measures (relative risk = 1.24, p = 0.024). There were no significant relationships between relative risk and either study age or functional class.

In HF, frailty affects women significantly more than men. Future work should focus on elucidating potential causes of gender differences in frailty in HF.