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130 active trials for Frailty

Blood Flow Restriction Training in Pre-frail and Frail Older Adults

Frailty is most often defined as a syndrome of physiological decline in late life, characterized by marked vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. Intervention such as exercise, especially resistance exercise, has proven to be effective to improve frail condition in the elderly in the previous literature. However, blood flow restriction (BFR) training, a new resistance exercise training method, need merely lower resistance power and shorter training duration compared with traditional resistance exercise. Previous researches also demonstrated BFR can increase muscle mass and muscle strength in the healthy elderly but the effect of BFR training on the pre-frail or frail elderly is unknown. The aim of this study will test the effect of BFR training on muscle strength and functional performance in pre-frail or frail elderly. Participants aged over 60 years old with clinical frailty score between 3 to 5 will be recruited. Participants will be assigned to two groups using randomized block design with BFR training and control group. Structured questionnaire and physical function measurement will be used to assess the pre-intervention condition and outcome of different interventions. The participants will be assessed before training (pre-test), 3 weeks after training, and 6 weeks after training (post-test), and followed up at one and three months after training. Physical function measurement will include hand grip, muscle mass over trunk and extremity, muscle strength of lower extremity, gait speed and timed up and go test. Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance will be used to test the pre-test, 3-week, post-test and follow-ups difference between the two groups.

Start: August 2020
WalkMORE: A Volunteer-driven Walking Intervention

Patients admitted to hospital typically experience periods of decreased activity or bed-rest. This reduced activity level leads to deconditioning - a loss of muscle mass, muscle strength (by 2-5% per day), and muscle shortening. Even among patients who were ambulatory at the time of admission, deconditioning has been linked with deleterious effects, such as increased rates of falls, functional decline, and frailty. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the physiological stresses associated with hospitalization - including deconditioning, as well as sleep deprivation and poor nutrition - makes discharged patients vulnerable to recurrent or new illnesses and to frailty. This physiological stress-induced vulnerability has been coined "post-hospital syndrome" and is thought to have a role in most hospital readmissions. The investigators hypothesize that by engaging ambulatory patients to walk with trained volunteers, patients will increase their amount of walking, have less deconditioning and functional decline, and consequently, fewer falls. Furthermore, the investigators anticipate that patients who walk with a trained volunteer will have reduced length-of-stay in hospital and decreased likelihood of readmission. Finally, as shown in other similar programs, the investigators anticipate an overall improvement in the patient experience. The investigator's novel initiative focuses on a single, volunteer-based intentional ambulation program that can deliver the benefits of early mobility in a cost-effective way. The program design engages trained volunteers to increase patient ambulation in a way that both increases patient mobility and reduces healthcare professionals' workload.

Start: May 2019
Prevalence, Determinants and Natural History of Frailty and Pre-frailty in Elderly People

Frailty syndrome (i.e. frailty) is a geriatric syndrome which relies on the reduction of multisystem reserve capacity. Frail people have a lower potential to respond to external stressors and various life incidents as well as they present a weak prognosis particularly in cardiovascular diseases. Yet, frailty is not only a set of physical deficits, but it also concerns psychological and social dimensions of human functioning. Hence, an approach to frailty should be multidimensional because such a concept more adequately reflects a functional degradation in the elderly. Frailty is usually associated with the impaired condition of circulatory system, and therefore, an identification of subclinical cardiovascular abnormalities is paramount in the frailty prevention and treatment. Another potential mechanism which may predispose to frailty is a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. This system plays a crucial role in the response to internal or external stressors such as diseases and activities of daily living. An impairment of the autonomic nervous system function may maintain or accelerate the frailty process. In this scientific project, a comprehensive echocardiography will investigate cardiac function with a particular attention to features which typically change with age, like flow parameters and chambers sizes. The activity of the autonomic nervous system will be explored with the analysis of heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory signals. The study participants will also undergo routine medical examination and a number of additional tests, including: assessment of cognitive function, psychological condition, nutrition status, activities of daily living, and risk of falls. The study group will comprise community dwelling elderly individuals over the age of 65 years who get around by themselves. After 2 years, the participants will be re-examined for their frailty and independence status, as well as their survival will be checked with the National Health Found electronic system. The aim of this project is to seek for factors determining frailty and to explore the frailty impact on the elderly people survival. Particular attention will be paid to the multidimensional frailty which is a new concept of the functional decline in the elderly. In addition, the prevalence of different modes of frailty in Polish community will be investigated. The results of this research should help to establish preventative and therapeutic strategies against frailty.

Start: September 2017
Sense of Control in Frail Older Persons

The proposed study seeks to explore the lived experience of control and wellbeing of older people diagnosed with frailty within the care service provision in southern England. In the study, the researcher will talk with older people diagnosed with frailty and the professionals that provide care to them. The researcher is interested in understanding participants' experiences of a sense of control and how health and social care services affect this experience. Although research has shown that rehabilitation can be effective in maintaining physical activity often frail older people do not wish to take up the rehabilitation services provided. Research in this area has been dominated by health care professionals' views about frailty and how services should be provided. Services could be improved by learning from the first-hand experiences of older people living with frailty and what they feel increases their level of control and wellbeing within their service use. The factors which increase their sense of control and wellbeing can then be built into future service development, inform care policies, and provide new understanding for future research to develop services which are more attractive and relevant for older frail people. All persons aged 65 years and over, with a diagnosis of frailty will be eligible to take part in one to one interviews with the researcher. From the interviews principles underpinning good practice which enhances the sense of control and wellbeing in older people's lives and within the services received will be identified. These will be shared with professional care providers including nurses, doctors, and physiotherapists who routinely work with frail older people to gain insights into how these principles can be integrated into practice and developed in policy and future service development. The findings will, therefore, help to develop services which ensure that they are supportive and increase a sense of control in life rather than getting in the way of this. The study is expected to last 12 months and up to 30 participants (20 older people and 10 Hospital staff) will be recruited to take part in the study.

Start: January 2021
Management and Outcomes of Patients Admitted to Coronary Care Units, Depending on Degree of Frailty and Comorbidities

Background Patients less than 80 years of age, who suffer a myocardial infarction (MI) are usually (>90%) offered an early invasive strategy including coronary angiography possibly followed by intervention, preferably percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Among non ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) patients, 80 years of age or over, only approximately 40% receive an invasive approach in Sweden, since the majority are handled in a conservative way, i.e. with medical treatment only. Furthermore, as with pharmacological treatment, there is a large variation between Swedish counties regarding the choice of strategy for the treatment of elderly (80+) patients with NSTEMI with an even larger variation between acute hospitals ranging from 20% to 90 %. The Swedish national guidelines for heart disease have emphasized that the patient's biological age, i.e. the patient's biological status and expected length of life, is crucial for decision-making. The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) is a global clinical measure of biological age, mixing co-morbidity, disability and cognitive impairment. The investigators have previously reported the potential importance of frailty for short-term (1 month) and medium-term outcome (1 year) in a NSTEMI population. However, published data on the role of frailty´s prognostic value, its capacity to predict adverse effects including complications, and the potential to guide clinical decision-making for elderly patients with myocardial infarction are scarce. Similarly, there is a lack of knowledge of how different patterns of comorbidity burden might influence rational decision-making. Aims To explore the association between frailty and treatment patterns in cardiac care To study the association between outcomes and degree of frailty, with and without comprehensive adjustment for differences in baseline characteristics. To study how treatment benefits for patients admitted to coronary care units differ in patients depending on comorbidities and frailty. Hypothesis The investigators hypothesize that frailty is independently associated with worse outcomes, including mortality, readmissions and complications. Methods and material An observational, register based, multicentre study. Inclusion criteria: Patients consecutively included in the Swedish Web-System for Enhancement and Development of Evidence-Based Care in Heart Disease Evaluated According to Recommended Therapies (SWEDEHEART) registry. Exclusion criteria: None. SWEDEHEART is a national quality registry collecting information on all patients hospitalized with MI or suspected MI. All 72 Swedish hospitals with acute coronary care contribute with data. Briefly, information is collected prospectively about individual patients' medical history, treatment before admission, management during hospital stay, treatment at discharge, and diagnoses. Approximately 20.000 patients diagnosed with MI are included in this register per year. From January 1st 2020 frailty (CFS) is a mandatory variable in the registry. However, as a pilot project to ensure feasibility, five hospitals began to register frailty November 1st, 2017. For the investigators initial analyses data will be used from the pilot study to assess the association between CFS level and outcomes. The data extraction will be done by one of the monitors of the SWEDEHEART registry. After about two years the investigators will extract data prospectively entered into the registry. The frailty instrument The crucial study instrument CFS is a 9-point scale. It has good predictive validity and prognostic power, is relying on clinical judgment, and is relatively easily used in clinical practice. Since the scale includes several degrees it can be considered to be particularly appropriate for risk stratification, and accordingly it has been used for this purpose. The investigators have got the instrument owner´s permission to use this scale. The case record form (CRF) focus on demographic and clinical patient characteristics registered in the SWEDEHEART, particularly those which are supposed to be potential confounders when testing the hypothesis: chronological age, gender, cardiovascular risk, diabetes, heart failure, renal insufficiency, other co-morbidities, including the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), previous MI, medications, ejection fraction, and the classification of MI. Cardiovascular risk will be assessed according to the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) risk score (GRS). Results from echocardiography, ECGs, laboratory testing and registration of anthropometric data will be included according to routine practice within the frame of SWEDEHEART. Follow-up of cohorts of invasively or conservatively treated patients with different stages of frailty will be done one, three, six, 12, 24 and 36 months after the inclusion point respectively.

Start: July 2020