Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the total sample and stratified ranges of frailty.
| Variables | Total population (n = 103) | Ranges of frailty |
p value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not frail (n = 46) |
Mild frailty (n = 20) |
Moderate frailty (n = 18) |
Severe frailty (n = 19) |
|||
| Sociodemographic | ||||||
| Age (years) | 71.0 (9.1) | 69.4 (9.4) | 70.3 (6.9) | 71.6 (11.5) | 75.3 (6.7) | 0.118 |
| Males, n (%) | 96 (93.2) | 44 (95.7) | 19 (95.0) | 15 (83.3) | 18 (94.7) | 0.439 |
| Living with partner/spouse, n (%) | 46 (44.7) | 20 (43.5) | 9 (45.0) | 7 (38.9) | 10 (52.6) | 0.859 |
| Activity domain | ||||||
| Active smoker, n (%) | 35 (34.0) | 17 (37.0) | 7 (35.0) | 5 (27.8) | 6 (31.6) | 0.908 |
| Smoking history by pack year | 55.1 (28.5) | 55.3 (33.1) | 52.6 (22.4) | 55.4 (27.6) | 56.9 (25.7) | 0.973 |
| Number of hospitalizations because of exacerbations in the previous year | 0.4 (0.7) | 0.2 (0.5) | 0.4 (0.6) | 0.6 (0.8) | 0.6 (0.8) | 0.042 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 28.6 (5.6) | 28.7 (5.5) | 28.6 (4.4) | 28.5 (8.4) | 28.3 (3.8) | 0.996 |
| Severity domain | ||||||
| FEV1 (% predicted; mean ± SD) | 52.2 (15.2) | 54.5 (13.8) | 48.9 (14.6) | 48.0 (15.4) | 54.2 (18.2) | 0.295 |
| Requiring non-invasive ventilation, n (%) | 8 (7.8) | 1 (2.2) | 3 (15.0) | 1 (5.6) | 3 (15.8) | 0.144 |
| Length of stay (days) | 11.3 (7.4) | 10.8 (8.2) | 11.3 (5.5) | 11.9 (7.1) | 11.6 (7.5) | 0.950 |
| Comorbidities | 1.7 (1.3) | 1.3 (1.2) | 2.3 (1.4) | 1.2 (1.1) | 2.4 (1.2) | <0.001 |
| Cardiovascular comorbidity, n (%) | 28 (27.2) | 11 (23.9) | 8 (40.0) | 2 (11.1) | 7 (36.8) | 0.161 |
| Impact domain | ||||||
| Dyspnoea score, n (%) | ||||||
| MRC 0–2 | 39 (39.0) | 27 (58.7) | 7 (36.8) | 4 (25.0) | 1 (5.3) | <0.001 |
| MRC 3 | 19 (19.0) | 10 (21.7) | 4 (21.1) | 3 (18.8) | 2 (10.5) | |
| MRC 4 | 42 (42.0) | 9 (19.6) | 8 (42.1) | 9 (56.3) | 16 (84.2) | |
| ADL Dependence | 1.4 (1.9) | 0.5 (1.1) | 1.2 (1.5) | 1.4 (1.6) | 4.0 (1.9) | <0.001 |
| Frailty | 8.0 (3.3) | 4.9 (1.6) | 8.5 (0.5) | 10.7 (0.5) | 12.5 (0.8) | <0.001 |
Data are given as mean (standard deviation) unless otherwise stated.
‘Not Frail or Vulnerable’ (scores 0–7 on the REFS), ‘Mild Frailty’ (8–9), ‘Moderate Frailty’ (10–11), and ‘Severe Frailty’ (12–18). REFS, Reported Edmonton Frailty Scale; ADL, activities of daily living; BMI, body mass index; FEV1, forced expiratory volume; MRC, Medical Research Council.