Abstract

Background and aims

Frailty is a clinical syndrome of increased vulnerability to stressors, associated with adverse outcomes after stroke, but its impact on outcomes after transient ischaemic attack (TIA) remain unclear.

Methods

Retrospective analysis of 1185 patients referred by the emergency department (ED) who attended TIA clinic with a Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) within two weeks. Records were combined from two routinely collected databases, and prevalence of frailty was determined. Frailty was classified as CFS score >/=4. Data were collected on date of death, and hazard ratios (HR) were determined through cox proportional hazard regression, adjusted for prognostic factors.

Results

7945 patients were referred through the ED between 01/01/2016 and 12/03/2022. 1185 patients were included. 53.5% (n=634) had frailty. Patients with frailty tended to be older (median age 81 vs 74, p<0.001) and female (53.9% vs 39.9% p<0.001). TIA was diagnosed in 28.3% (n=335), 61.2% (n=205) of whom were frail. Stroke was diagnosed in 23.1% (n=274). 46.7% of these had frailty (n=128). In TIA patients and the whole cohort (WC), frailty (TIA: HR 2.69 [95%CI 1.23-5.87, p=0.013], WC: 2.58 [95%CI 1.64-4.08, p<0.001]; and increasing age [HR 1.07 95% CI 1.04-1.12], were predictive of mortality. In stroke patients, only increasing age was predictive of death, (HR 1.11 [95%CI 1.04-1.19, p=0.003]).

Conclusions

Frailty is common in TIA and is predictive of mortality. Studies are required to investigate the effects of frailty on other outcomes after TIA, including: quality of life; progression to stroke; and how frailty impacts rehabilitation.

This content is only available as a PDF.
This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://dbpia.nl.go.kr/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)

Comments

0 Comments
Submit a comment
You have entered an invalid code
Thank you for submitting a comment on this article. Your comment will be reviewed and published at the journal's discretion. Please check for further notifications by email.