Frailty in Dialysis Patients Associated with Higher Mortality, Falls, and Hospitalizations: Study
Researchers have found in a new study that Frailty is associated with higher mortality rates, falls and hospitalization among patients undergoing dialysis..Therefore the findings emphasize the importance of early frailty screening and targeted interventions to improve patient outcomes. The study was conducted by Wan-Qiao He and fellow researchers published in the journal Nursing Open.
Although frailty is associated with an increased risk of poor health outcomes in older adults, its confirmation as a risk factor in dialysis patients has not been established. The association between frailty and adverse events was determined through systematic review and meta-analysis in this current study.
The researchers performed a thorough search of the databases, namely PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, CNKI, WanFang, and China Science and Technology Journal (VIP), from their inception to April 2022. The inclusion criteria were cohort studies exploring the association between frailty and adverse outcomes in dialysis patients.
The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to measure the quality of the included studies to ensure the reliability of the findings. Pooling effect sizes was done through a random-effects model, while additional analyses that included subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, and the assessment of publication bias were undertaken to strengthen the robustness.
Key Findings
From 2,744 studies identified in the initial process, 26 cohort studies entered the final stage of analysis following screening.
These consisted of 14,089 patients on dialysis aged between 44.95 and 78.10 years.
The combined results established the fact that frailty increased significantly the risk for mortality, falls, and hospitalizations in the dialysis patient population.
The study authors concluded that frailty could be a key predictor of several adverse outcomes related to mortality and falls. Clinicians should stress the assessment of frailty status in dialysis patients to potentially reduce the threat and improve life quality. There's a need for research into particular interventions to possibly manage frailty in such groups.
Reference:
He WQ, Zhang XM, Zhang YZ, Gai W, Wu XJ, Tao YL. Association Between Frailty and Mortality, Falls and Hospitalisation Among Patients Undergoing Dialysis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nurs Open. 2025 Feb;12(2):e70150. doi: 10.1002/nop2.70150. PMID: 39899271; PMCID: PMC11789586.
