The relationship between frailty and HRQoL in elderly cardiovascular patients in Phase II Cardiac Rehabilitation

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background With an aging cardiovascular disease population, frailty is become an important prognostic factor in patients, which is associated with poor quality of life outcomes, such as fatigue, and decreased physical activity. However, the relationship between frailty and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in elderly patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation (CR) remains unclear. Methods In this study, 217 patients (mean age: 74.6 ± 5.8 years; male: 67%) were recruited who participated in early phase II CR at a university hospital between November 2015 and December 2016. As part of the CR processed, patients were asked to complete the Kihon Checklist (KCL) and 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36). We divided patients into three groups according to their KCL results: the frailty group (n = 81; 37%), the pre-frailty group (n = 71; 32%), and the non-frailty group (n = 65; 29%). The three groups were compared based on their basic characteristics and SF-36 scores. Results Among the three groups, sex, body mass index, 6-minute walking distance (6MWD), hemoglobin level, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level varied significantly (p Conclusions HRQOL as well as physical and mental domains declined in frail elderly patients undergoing CR, which suggests that an intervention program considering social life and daily roles is necessary.