Predictive value of frailty in the mortality of hospitalized patients with COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to analyze the impact of frailty on mortality risk among hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: Literature searches were conducted using the MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane databases for articles reporting the association between frailty and mortality in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale (NOS). A random-effects meta-analysis was performed to calculate the pooled effects. RESULTS: A total of 21 studies with 26,652 hospitalized patients were included. Sixteen studies used the Clinical Frailty Score (CFS), and five used other frailty assessment tools. The pooled estimates of frailty in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 were 51.4% [95% confidence interval (CI): 39.9–62.9%]. In the CFS group, frail patients experienced a higher rate of short-term mortality than non-frail patients [odds ratio (OR) =3.0; 95% CI: 2.3–3.9; I(2)=72.7%; P<0.001]. In the other tools group, frail patients had a significantly increased short-term mortality risk compared with non-frail patients (OR =2.4; 95% CI: 1.4–4.1; P=0.001). Overall, a higher short-term mortality risk was observed for frail patients than non-frail patients (OR =2.8; 95% CI: 2.3–3.5; P<0.001). In older adults, frail patients had a higher rate of short-term mortality than non-frail patients (OR =2.3; 95% CI: 1.8–2.9; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Compared to non-frail hospitalized patients with COVID-19, frail patients suffered a higher risk of all-cause mortality, and this result was also found in the older adult group.