Racial disparities in longitudinal frailty state transitions among older cancer survivors

Black older patients with cancer are at high risk of frailty during cancer treatment, yet racial disparities in long-term frailty state transitions during the survivorship phase are understudied.

We conducted a longitudinal analysis of older cancer survivors (≥65 years) using rounds 1-9 (2011-2019) of the National Health and Aging Trends Study. A multistate Markov model assessed one-year transitions across Fried frailty phenotypes states (robust, prefrail, frail) and death, stratified by self-reported race (Black vs. non-Black).

Among 1303 survivors, 55 % were female, 24 % Black, and 76 % non-Black. Black survivors were less likely to remain robust (50 % vs. 57 %), more likely to stay frail (46 % vs. 39 %), more likely to die, and more likely to transition to poorer frailty states (e.g., robust to prefrail or frail) than non-Black survivors.

Black older cancer survivors experience poorer frailty trajectories than non-Black counterparts, highlighting the need for targeted survivorship care to improve long-term outcomes.