Prevention & lipidsCohort study
Changes in frailty and incident cardiovascular disease in three prospective cohorts
- Prospective cohort study
- three cohorts (China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), Health and Retirement Study (HRS))
Authors' conclusion
Different changes in frailty status are associated with different risks of incident CVD. Progression of frailty status increases incident CVD risks, while recovery of frailty status decreases incident CVD risks.
Study context
- Population
- Adults in three prospective cohorts (CHARLS, ELSA, HRS); frailty by Rockwood frailty index at baseline and 2 years laterCHARLS 7116, ELSA 5303, HRS 7266
- Exposure
- Changes in frailty status vs stable frailty status
- Outcome
- Incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) (self-reported physician-diagnosed heart disease or stroke)
- Follow-up
- Median 5.0 years (CHARLS), 10.7 years (ELSA), 9.5 years (HRS)
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Incident CVD
Hazard ratio (95% CI)
Robust → pre-frail/frail vs Stable robustCHARLS
1.84(1.54–2.21)
Robust → pre-frail/frail vs Stable robustELSA
1.53(1.25–1.86)
Robust → pre-frail/frail vs Stable robustHRS
1.59(1.31–1.92)
Frail → robust/pre-frail vs Stable frailCHARLS
0.62(0.47–0.81)
Frail → robust/pre-frail vs Stable frailELSA
0.49(0.34–0.69)
Frail → robust/pre-frail vs Stable frailHRS
0.70(0.55–0.89)
Pre-frail → robust vs Stable pre-frailCHARLS
0.66(0.52–0.83)
Pre-frail → robust vs Stable pre-frailELSA
0.65(0.49–0.85)
Pre-frail → robust vs Stable pre-frailHRS
0.71(0.56–0.91)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Changes in frailty and incident cardiovascular disease in three prospective cohorts. Eur Heart J. Published 18 January 2024. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehad885
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it