Frailty and a metabolic measure linked to risk of death
An observational study of 2,573 UK and 803 Chinese older adults with atrial fibrillation and no diabetes linked combined metabolic and frailty assessments to differing death risks.
Independent replication
Older adults with atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat, and without diabetes were studied in two observational cohorts. Researchers analysed 2,573 UK Biobank participants and 803 people from a community-based cohort in Jiangdu, China. They assessed frailty, reduced resilience to illness or stress, alongside a measure based on blood fat and sugar levels and body roundness.
During follow-up, 969 UK participants and 179 Jiangdu participants died. High values of the metabolic measure were linked to higher death risk in the UK cohort. Both low and high values were linked to higher risk in Jiangdu. Frailty was linked to higher risk in both cohorts. Participants classified as non-robust who also had abnormal metabolic values had the highest risk. Combining the assessments added modest predictive value, which varied between cohorts.
Why it matters
For older adults with atrial fibrillation and no diabetes, the findings support further evaluation of whether metabolic and frailty assessments offer complementary information for estimating mortality risk.
Caveats
The observational design cannot show whether metabolic differences or frailty caused the higher risk of death.
