Abstract
Background: The ideal method of identifying frailty is uncertain, and data on long-term outcomes is relatively limited. We examined frailty indices derived from population-scale linked data on Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and hospitalised non-ICU patients with pneumonia to elucidate the influence of frailty on mortality.Methods: Longitudinal cohort study between 2010-2018 using population-scale anonymised data linkage of healthcare records for adults admitted to hospital with pneumonia in Wales. Primary outcome was in-patient mortality. Age, hospital frailty risk score (HFRS), electronic frailty index (eFI), Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), and social deprivation index were entered in the multivariate regression models.Results: Of the 107,188 patients, mean (SD) age was 72.6 (16.6) years, 50% were men. The two frailty indices and the comorbidity index had an increased risk of mortality for individuals with an ICU admission. Advancing age, increased frailty and comorbidity affected short- and long-term mortality. For predicting inpatient deaths, the CCI and HFRS based models were similar, however for longer term outcomes the CCI based model was superior. Discussion: Frailty and comorbidity are significant risk factors for patients admitted to hospital with pneumonia. Frailty and comorbidity scores based on administrative data have only moderate ability to predict outcome.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health-care usage and mental health of clinically extremely vulnerable individuals in Wales: a population-scale data linkage study
