2023 Volume 87 Issue 4 Pages 490-497
Background: Elderly patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are a high-risk population for heart failure (HF), but the association between physical frailty and worsening prognosis, including HF development, has not been documented extensively.
Methods and Results: As part of the FLAGSHIP study, we enrolled 524 patients aged ≥70 years hospitalized for AMI and capable of walking at discharge. Physical frailty was assessed using the FLAGSHIP frailty score. The primary outcome was a composite outcome of all-cause death and HF rehospitalization within 2 years after discharge. The secondary outcome was all-cause death and HF rehospitalization. After adjusting for confounders, physical frailty showed a significant association with an increased risk of the composite outcome (hazard ratio [HR]=2.09, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03–4.22, P=0.040). The risk of HF rehospitalization increased with physical frailty, but the association was not statistically significant (HR=2.14, 95% CI: 0.84–5.44, P=0.110). Physical frailty was not associated with an increased risk of all-cause death (HR=1.45, 95% CI: 0.49–4.26, P=0.501).
Conclusions: The findings suggest that physical frailty assessment serves as a stratifying tool to identify high-risk populations for post-discharge clinical events among ambulant elderly patients with AMI.
