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Prevalence of physical frailty, including risk factors, up to 1 year after hospitalisation for COVID-19 in the UK: a multicentre, longitudinal cohort study

  • PHOSP-COVID Study Collaborative Group
  • , Hamish J.C. McAuley
  • , Rachael A. Evans
  • , Charlotte E. Bolton
  • , Christopher E. Brightling
  • , James D. Chalmers
  • , Annemarie B. Docherty
  • , Omer Elneima
  • , Paul L. Greenhaff
  • , Ayushman Gupta
  • , Victoria C. Harris
  • , Ewen M. Harrison
  • , Ling Pei Ho
  • , Alex Horsley
  • , Linzy Houchen-Wolloff
  • , Caroline J. Jolley
  • , Olivia C. Leavy
  • , Nazir I. Lone
  • , William D.C. Man
  • , Michael Marks
  • Dhruv Parekh, Krisnah Poinasamy, Jennifer K. Quint, Betty Raman, Matthew Richardson, Ruth M. Saunders, Marco Sereno, Aarti Shikotra, Amisha Singapuri, Sally J. Singh, Michael Steiner, Ai Lyn Tan, Louise V. Wain, Carly Welch, Julie Whitney, Miles D. Witham, Janet Lord, Neil J. Greening
  • University of Leicester
  • University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
  • University of Nottingham
  • Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and The University of Nottingham
  • University of Dundee
  • University of Edinburgh
  • University of Oxford
  • Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • University of Manchester
  • Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
  • King's College London
  • King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
  • Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
  • Imperial College London
  • London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
  • Hospital for Tropical Diseases
  • University College London
  • University of Birmingham
  • University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
  • Asthma + Lung UK
  • University of Leeds
  • NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre
  • Newcastle University
  • Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: The scale of COVID-19 and its well documented long-term sequelae support a need to understand long-term outcomes including frailty. Methods: This prospective cohort study recruited adults who had survived hospitalisation with clinically diagnosed COVID-19 across 35 sites in the UK (PHOSP-COVID). The burden of frailty was objectively measured using Fried's Frailty Phenotype (FFP). The primary outcome was the prevalence of each FFP group—robust (no FFP criteria), pre-frail (one or two FFP criteria) and frail (three or more FFP criteria)—at 5 months and 1 year after discharge from hospital. For inclusion in the primary analysis, participants required complete outcome data for three of the five FFP criteria. Longitudinal changes across frailty domains are reported at 5 months and 1 year post-hospitalisation, along with risk factors for frailty status. Patient-perceived recovery and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) were retrospectively rated for pre-COVID-19 and prospectively rated at the 5 month and 1 year visits. This study is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN10980107. Findings: Between March 5, 2020, and March 31, 2021, 2419 participants were enrolled with FFP data. Mean age was 57.9 (SD 12.6) years, 933 (38.6%) were female, and 429 (17.7%) had received invasive mechanical ventilation. 1785 had measures at both timepoints, of which 240 (13.4%), 1138 (63.8%) and 407 (22.8%) were frail, pre-frail and robust, respectively, at 5 months compared with 123 (6.9%), 1046 (58.6%) and 616 (34.5%) at 1 year. Factors associated with pre-frailty or frailty were invasive mechanical ventilation, older age, female sex, and greater social deprivation. Frail participants had a larger reduction in HRQoL compared with before their COVID-19 illness and were less likely to describe themselves as recovered. Interpretation: Physical frailty and pre-frailty are common following hospitalisation with COVID-19. Improvement in frailty was seen between 5 and 12 months although two-thirds of the population remained pre-frail or frail. This suggests comprehensive assessment and interventions targeting pre-frailty and frailty beyond the initial illness are required. Funding: UK Research and Innovation and National Institute for Health Research.
Original languageEnglish
Article number101896
JournaleClinicalMedicine
Volume57
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2023

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • Fried's frailty phenotype
  • Hospitalisation
  • Long-COVID
  • Physical frailty

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