Frailty Increases Mortality Risk in Patients With IBD

Among patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), frailty is independently associated with heightened mortality and hospitalization burden, according to findings from a recent study.

“Frailty should be considered in treatment approach, especially in older patients with inflammatory bowel diseases,” the researchers advised.

In the study, the researchers looked at the effect of frailty in a nationally representative cohort study spanning 47,402 patients with IBD who were hospitalized between January 2013 and June 2013, and followed for readmission through December 2013. Among them, 15,507 were considered frail at their index hospital admission.
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After the researchers adjusted for age, sex, income, comorbidity index, depression, obesity, severity, and indication for index hospitalization, frailty was independently linked with a 57% higher risk of mortality over a median follow-up period of 10 months. In addition, frailty was independently associated with a 21% higher risk of all-cause readmission and a 22% increased risk of readmission for severe IBD.

Participants with frailty spent a median 9 days in the hospital annually, according to the study, compared with a median 5 days for patients without frailty. Hospitalization costs were an average $17,791 for patients who were frail and $10,924 for patients who were not frail.

Rather than IBD, infections were the leading cause of hospitalization among participants who were frail, the study found.

—Jolynn Tumolo

Reference

Qian AS, Nguyen NH, Elia J, Ohno-Machado L, Sandborn WJ, Singh S. Frailty is independently associated with mortality and readmission in hospitalized patients with inflammatory bowel diseases. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. Published online August 12, 2020. doi:10.1016/j.cgh.2020.08.010