Abstract 65: Composite Biomarkers Could Assess Frailty Status In Stable Older Adults With Cardiovascular Disease

Background: The relationship between frailty status and laboratory measurements in cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains unclear. We investigated which laboratory measurements indicated frailty in stable older CVD patients.

Methods: One-hundred thirty-eight stable older CVD patients were evaluated by laboratory measurements and frailty as assessed by the Kihon Checklist (KCL). We compared laboratory measurements between frail and non-frail groups.

Results: Mean age was 81.7 years, mean left ventricular ejection fraction was 57.8%, and mean plasma brain natriuretic peptide content was 182 pg/mL. Patients were allocated to non-frail (n = 43) and frail (n = 95) groups on the basis of KCL score. Serum iron was significantly lower in the frail group (frail, 61.2 ± 30.3 μg/dL; non-frail, 89.5 ± 26.1 μg/dL; P < 0.001). Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were significantly higher in the frail group (frail, 27.3 ± 16.5 mg/dL, non-frail, 19.7 ± 8.2 mg/dL; P = 0.013; frail, 1.05 ± 1.99 mg/dL, non-frail, 0.15 ± 0.21 mg/dL; P = 0.004, respectively). Multivariate analysis revealed that serum iron, CRP and BUN were significant independent frailty predictors (β = –0.069, 0.917, and 0.086, respectively).

Conclusions: Frailty status was significantly associated with iron, CRP, and BUN in stable older CVD patients. Composite biomarkers (inflammation, iron deficiency, and renal perfusion) may be useful for assessing frailty in these patients.