Background/Purpose: Frailty is defined as a syndrome of physiological decline in late life, characterized by marked vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. Frail adults are less able to adapt to stressors such as acute illness or trauma than non-frail adults. This increased vulnerability contributes to increased risk for multiple adverse outcomes, including procedural complications, falls, institutionalization, disability, and death.

The frailty syndrome requires at least three of the following five characteristics: Unintentional weight loss, as evidenced by a loss of at least 10 lbs or greater than 5% of body weight in the prior year, muscle weakness, as measured by reduced grip strength in the lowest 20% at baseline, adjusted for gender and BMI, physical slowness, based on measured time to walk a distance of 15 ft, poor endurance, as indicated by self-reported exhaustion and low physical activity, as scored using a standardized assessment questionnaire.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disabling disease, which leads to functional limitations and diminishes health-related quality of life. The presence of comorbidity and polypharmacy are both related to RA severity.

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of frailty in patients with RA using de Frail Scale.

Methods: We studied patients with RA (ACR criteria) that were seen at the outpatient clinic of the Rheumatology Service of a third level hospital. We applied the Frail Scale and registered data (demographic and diseased related data) using a cross-sectional, observational, and descriptive study design.

Frail scale: Based on five items, reflecting performance, selfreports and common co-morbidities (Morley JE et al., J Nutr Health Aging. 2012;16(7):601-8).

Results: 231 consecutive RA patients were included, 83.2 %) were female. Mean age was 55.4 years and mean disease duration was 11.4 years.

Mean number of comorbidities was 1.48, with systemic hypertension and obesity as the most frequent ones (33.8 % and 26.4 %, respectively). Polypharmacy was found in 96.8 % and 64.7 % received more than five drugs simultaneously.

21.5 % met frailty criteria.

Conclusion: Prevalence of frailty in this study was high. Rheumatologists should make an early detection of signs of frailty.

Early detection of frailty can spur reforms to make routine care less hazardous, can focus on outcomes most relevant to patients and can aid in understanding effectiveness of health care interventions, including at the population level

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/early-frailty-syndrome-in-rhematoid-arthitis-screening-using-the-frail-scale/