• Padma Kaul, Karen P Alexander, E Magnus Ohman, Anamaria Savu, Matthew T Roe, Shaun G Goodman, Keith A Fox, Harvey D White, Dorairaj Prabhakaran, Judith S Hochman, Peter Clemmensen, and Paul W Armstrong.
• Canadian VIGOUR Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Electronic address: pkaul@ualberta.ca.
• Can J Cardiol. 2019 Apr 1; 35 (4): 430-437.

BackgroundThe effect of sex on self-reported frailty in acute coronary syndromes (ACS) is unclear. We examined the prevalence of self-reported frailty and its association with all-cause death among men and women.MethodsElderly (≥ 65 years) male (n = 2691) and female (n = 2305) patients with ACS enrolled in the Targeted Platelet Inhibition to Clarify the Optimal Strategy to Medically Manage Acute Coronary Syndromes (TRILOGY ACS) trial were screened using the Fried Frailty Index. Sex differences in prevalence of frailty symptoms and categories (not frail; prefrail [1 to 2 symptoms]; and frail [≥ 3 symptoms]) and their prognostic importance were examined.ResultsWomen were older and had higher rates of comorbidities than men. A total of 739 (27.5%) men and 645 (28%) women reported ≥ 1 frailty symptom. Prevalence of frailty increased with age among men but not women. During a median follow-up of 17.3 months, 353 (13.1%) men and 266 (11.5%) women died. After adjusting for age, prefrail men had a 35% increased risk (hazard ratio [HR] 1.35; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07-1.71), and frail men had an 80% increased risk (HR 1.80; 95% CI, 1.22-2.67) of death relative to not-frail men. The age-adjusted HR for death in prefrail women was 1.40 (95% CI, 1.07-1.84), and 1.55 (95% CI, 0.96-2.49) in frail women relative to not-frail women. Self-reported slow walk time and decreased physical activity appeared to provide the most prognostic information.ConclusionSelf-reported frailty was similar among men and women with ACS. Frailty increased with age only among men, in whom it added more prognostic information. Patient-reported frailty may identify elderly patients with ACS, particularly men, at high-risk of mortality.Copyright © 2019 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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