Hospital Frailty Risk Score (HFRS) Predicts Adverse Outcomes Among Hospitalized Patients with Chronic Pancreatitis

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Geriatrics
• Health Services Research

Background:

• The prevalence and impact of frailty in chronic pancreatitis (CP) patients remain underexplored.
• Understanding frailty's role is crucial for improving clinical outcomes and resource allocation in CP management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence of frailty among hospitalized patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP).
• To assess the impact of frailty on mortality, readmission rates, and healthcare utilization in CP patients within the United States.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the 2019 Nationwide Readmissions Database for patients diagnosed with CP.
• Applied a validated hospital frailty risk scoring system to categorize patients as frail or non-frail.
• Compared clinical characteristics, mortality, readmission, and healthcare utilization between frail and non-frail CP cohorts.

Main Results:

• Over 40% of 56,072 CP patients were classified as frail, often younger than 65 and with fewer comorbidities.
• Frailty independently associated with a 2-fold increased mortality risk (aHR, 2.05) and higher all-cause readmission (aHR, 1.07).
• Frail patients experienced longer hospital stays, increased costs, and infectious causes as the primary readmission driver.

Conclusions:

• Frailty is an independent predictor of adverse outcomes in chronic pancreatitis patients.
• Identified frailty as significantly associated with increased mortality, readmissions, and healthcare utilization.
• Findings underscore the importance of frailty assessment and management in CP care pathways.