48 Higher Admission Frailty Scores Predict Increased Mortality, Morbidity and Healthcare Utilization in the Elderly Burn Population

Abstract

Abstract Introduction The Rockwood Clinical Frailty Scale is a validated rapid assessment of frailty phenotype, predictor of mortality and other clinical outcomes in the geriatric population, even when applied retrospectively. Using data from a large tertiary care burn center, we assessed the association between admission frailty in an elderly burn population and outcomes. Methods Retrospective analysis of burn patients > 65 years, admitted to a tertiary care referral burn center from 2015–2019 (n= 652). Patients were assigned to Rockwood frailty subgroups, low (1–3), moderate (4–6), or high (7–9), based on comprehensive medical, social work, physical and occupational therapy assessments. Patients who did not have complete assessments to allow for appropriate frailty scoring were excluded. Hospital-associated infections (HAIs) were identified through the institutional epidemiology database and healthcare utilization data were extracted from burn registry and medical records. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate associations between admission frailty and 30-day inpatient mortality. Results Our study included 644 patients (low: 262, moderate: 345, and high: 37 frailty subgroups). Frailty was associated with higher percent TBSA (median TBSA: low 2.0%; moderate 3.0%; high 3.0%; p=0.01) and older age at admission (p=0.0004). The 30-day cumulative incidence of mortality was 2.3%, 7.0%, and 24.3% among the low, moderate, and high frailty strata, respectively. After adjustment for age, TBSA and inhalation, high frailty was associated with increased 30-day mortality (HR 5.73; 95% CI 1.86, 17.62). Moderate frailty appeared to increase 30-day mortality, although estimates were imprecise (HR 2.19; 95% CI 0.87–5.50). Morbidity and healthcare utilization results are reported in Table 1. Higher frailty was associated with any ICU stay during the hospitalization, need for mechanical ventilation, and higher median hospital cost/day. HAIs were infrequent in all frailty subgroups. The proportion of patients discharged to hospice, rehab, long and short-term care facilities was highest in the high frailty subgroup. Those in the moderate and low subgroups were more likely to be discharged home or home with services. Conclusions High admission frailty is associated with an increased 30-day mortality regardless of age group. Higher frailty correlates with increased morbidity and healthcare utilization.