Nutrition Status Predicts Frailty in Patients With HF

TOPLINE:

A substantial proportion of patients hospitalised with chronic heart failure (HF) were at risk for malnutrition, which was associated with elevated odds of frailty — and frailty, in turn, was linked to an increased likelihood of prolonged hospital stays.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers evaluated the association between nutritional status and frailty among patients with chronic HF and examined whether these factors influenced the length of hospital stay.
• They included 200 patients aged 60 years or older (mean age, 72.28 years; 70.5% men) who had at least 6-month history of HF, were classified as New York Heart Association functional classes II-IV, and were hospitalised for HF at a hospital in Poland between September 2022 and June 2023.
• Between 24 and 48 hours after admission, once patients were clinically stabilised, nutritional status was evaluated using the Mini Nutritional Assessment, and frailty was assessed using the Fried phenotype criteria.

TAKEAWAY:

• Overall, 63.5% of patients had adequate nutritional status, 35% were at risk for malnutrition, and 1.5% were malnourished; 65% of patients were categorised as frail and 35% were categorised as pre-frail.
• Frailty was most common in patients who were malnourished (100%), followed by those who were at risk for malnutrition (78.57%), and least prevalent in those with proper nutrition (56.69%; P = .002).
• Being at risk for malnutrition or undernutrition was associated with a 5.885-fold increase in odds of frailty (P < .001).
• Patients classified as frail were a little over four times more likely to have a hospital stay exceeding 5 days than those classified as pre-frail (P = .012).

IN PRACTICE:

“The findings underscore the need for integrating comprehensive nutritional assessments into the routine care of CHF [chronic HF] patients. Interventions targeting malnutrition could be crucial in reducing the incidence of frailty and improving the overall prognosis in these patients,” the researchers concluded.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Katarzyna Lomper, Wroclaw Medical University, Wrocław, Poland. It was published online on August 11, 2025, in ESC Heart Failure.

LIMITATIONS:

Patients were included from only one cardiology department, which may not be representative of a broader population. Only patients aged 60 years or older were enrolled, limiting generalisability to those who were younger or had different health statuses. Specific data on congestion at the time of evaluation were not systematically collected, potentially affecting the interpretation of factors influencing the length of hospital stay.

DISCLOSURES:

This study received funding from the National Science Centre, Poland. The authors reported having no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.