The concept of frailty in intensive care

Fakhri Athari, Ken M. Hillman, Steven A. Frost

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Our population is ageing and this is also reflected in the ageing of the hospital and intensive care population. Along with ageing, there is also an increase in age-related chronic health conditions or co-morbidities, which in turn affects the patient's functional state. There is an increasing need to describe a patient's clinical condition in terms of their functional capacity, such as frailty. Frailty is an age-related syndrome which reduces physiological and cognitive reserves. As a result, frailty increases people's vulnerability to insults such as infection and trauma. The concept of frailty also indicates prognosis and levels of health from a patient's perspective rather than simply from the acute reason for admission to the intensive care. Understanding the concept of frailty may facilitate our awareness of long-term outcomes after intensive care as well as being a trigger for considering its prognostic implications and the need to honestly and empathetically begin discussions with patients and their carers and how the patient's own goals of care could be established around this information.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)175-178
Number of pages4
JournalAustralian Critical Care
Volume32
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Keywords

  • aging
  • chronically ill
  • comorbidity
  • critical care medicine
  • frail elderly
  • prognosis

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