The Added Value of Frailty Assessment As the Premorbid Stroke Status on Activities of Daily Living in Patients with Acute Stroke, Stratified by Stroke Severity

BackgroundThe modified Rankin scale (mRS) is extensively used for premorbid evaluation in patients with stroke; however, its limited capacity to assess functional status highlights the need for additional indicators such as frailty.AimsThis study aimed to assess the impact of the premorbid mRS score and frailty on daily living (ADL) activities at hospital discharge, focusing on varying stroke severities.MethodsThis single-centre, prospective cohort study included patients with acute stroke aged ≥60 years. Key metrics included the frailty index for frailty assessment or mRS for functional status premorbid and the functional independence measure of the motor domain (FIM-M) at discharge for ADL outcomes. The patients were categorized into mild (0–4), moderate (5–15), and severe (16–42) groups based on the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale. Multiple hierarchical linear regression analyses were performed for each group to evaluate the influence of mRS and frailty on FIM-M scores.ResultsIn the mild stroke group, significant associations were observed with premorbid mRS3 (β = −0.183, p = 0.004), mRS4 (β = −0.234, p < 0.001), and frailty status (β = −0.227, p = 0.005) and FIM-M scores. Premorbid frailty did not show a significant association with the FIM-M scores in the moderate or severe stroke group. Frailty status notably contributed to changes in R², particularly in the mild stroke group (R² change = 0.031, p = 0.002). However, such changes were not evident in the other stroke severity groups.ConclusionThis study emphasizes the importance of incorporating frailty assessments into premorbid evaluations, particularly when considering ADL outcomes in patients with mild stroke. Conversely, the significance of frailty in moderate-to-severe stroke was less evident.