Frailty Status Affects the Decision for Long-Term Anticoagulation Therapy in Elderly Patients with Atrial Fibrillation

Elderly patients are underrepresented in the studies concerning anticoagulation therapy (AT) in atrial fibrillation (AF), while patients’ frailty status is lacking in most of the studies. Our objective was to evaluate AT in AF elderly patients and study the effect of patients’ frailty status on their long-term AT. We conducted an observational prospective study that enrolled consecutive AF patients (≥ 75 years) who were hospitalized in the Department of Internal Medicine of the University Hospital of Heraklion, Crete, Greece from 1 June 2015 to 1 June 2016. We recorded the AT on admission and at discharge, all-cause mortality, and hospital readmission in a follow-up period of 1 year after hospital discharge. Frailty status was assessed by pre-established scores. One hundred and four consecutive patients (49% male; median age 87 years) were enrolled, 78 (78.8%) of whom received AT at discharge. Patients who did not receive AT at discharge had a higher HEMORR2HAGES (Hepatic or renal disease, Ethanol abuse, Malignancy, Older age, Reduced platelet count or function, Re-bleeding, Hypertension, Anemia, Genetic factors, Excessive fall risk and Stroke) score (5.5 ± 1.15 vs. 4.79 ± 1.68; p = 0.032), a lower Katz score (2.48 ± 2.23 vs. 4.08 ± 2.25; p = 0.006), and a higher Clinical Frailty Scale score (7 ± 1.95 vs. 5.57 ± 2.05; p = 0.006). Sixty-five patients (62.5%) were readmitted to a hospital during the follow-up period. In-hospital death occurred in five patients (4.8%) and 57 patients (57.6%) died within the follow-up period. A high percentage of the elderly AF patients did not receive AT, even at discharge. Patients who did not receive AT at discharge had higher bleeding and frailty scores. In the 1-year follow-up period after hospital discharge, high all-cause mortality and a high number of hospital readmissions were recorded.