Nurse-led multidimensional frailty assessment in older patients admitted to an acute cardiac care unit: the CARDIOFRAIL study

Frailty is increasingly recognized as a clinically relevant syndrome in older adults with acute cardiovascular disease. It reflects reduced physiological reserve and greater vulnerability to acute stressors, and is associated with complications, functional decline, prolonged recovery, and mortality across cardiovascular settings.1,2 However, frailty screening is not yet systematically embedded in many acute cardiac care units, where clinical assessment often remains focused on the index cardiovascular diagnosis.3,4 Because frailty assessment requires attention to functional, cognitive, nutritional, and self-care domains, it is particularly relevant to cardiovascular nursing practice.5 In this setting, frailty assessment provides clinically actionable information for complication prevention, discharge planning, rehabilitation, and continuity of care.6 The CARDIOFRAIL study aimed to determine the prevalence of frailty and pre-frailty through a nurse-led multidimensional assessment in older patients admitted to an acute cardiac care unit. We also explored the association between frailty status and clinical profile, in-hospital complications, length of stay, in-hospital mortality, and survival during follow-up.