Evaluation of frailty status and prognosis in patients aged over 75 years with chronic kidney disease (CKD)

Background There is a higher frequency of advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) in frail patients than in the general population. This study evaluated frailty status before initiation of dialysis and clarified the prognosis in patients aged over 75 years with advanced CKD. Method This study involved 310 patients who initiated dialysis between January 2011 and December 2018. Frailty was evaluated using the Rockwood Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS). Age, sex, body mass index (BMI), laboratory data, the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), geriatric syndrome (based on SPICES score), nutritional status (based on the Controlling Nutritional Status [CONUT] score), and the effects of frail conditions on the prognosis were examined. Results There were 107 robust participants (34.5%), 100 pre-frail participants (32.3%), and 103 frail participants (33.2%). The median survival time was significantly different among the robust (54.3 months), pre-frail (39.7 months), and frail participants (18.7 months) by the log-rank test ( P < 0.001). HR of frail group compared to robust group was 1.59 ( P = 0.04). Pre-frail group did not show a significantly higher hazard than frail group. The other significant variables maintained in the model were CONUT score ( P < 0.001), CCI, and SPICES score. The Kruskal–Wallis test showed that CONUT score ( P < 0.001), SPICES score ( P < 0.001), and CCI ( P = 0.013) were significant differences in three independent groups (robust, pre-frail, frail). Conclusion Frail patients receiving dialysis have a poor prognosis. Frailty was associated with comorbidities, nutrition, and especially geriatric syndrome.