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Association between Frailty and Albuminuria among Older Chinese Inpatients

  • Published:
The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Objectives

Older adults with frailty are vulnerable to cardiovascular event and subsequent mortality. Frailty and albuminuria share atherosclerotic risk factors. The present study investigated the association of frailty and albuminuria among elderly Chinese inpatients.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Settings and participants

A total of 202 patients aged over 60 years from the Center of Gerontology and Geriatric, West China Hospital.

Measurements

Frailty was defined using the five-item FRAIL scale. This included measurements of fatigue, resistance, ambulation, illness, and loss of weight. We further determined the random urine albumin/ creatinine ratio (UACR) of all patients. Random UACR ≥30 mg/g was defined as albuminuria, and < 30mg/g as normoalbuminuria. The relationship between albuminuria and frailty was assessed through multiple regression analysis.

Results

The 202 participants (156 men, 77.2%) had an average age of 78.99±7.60 years, which ranged from 60 to 95. Compared to those without albuminuria, elderly patients with albuminuria were of an older age, had a higher prevalence of diabetes and poorer renal function. The prevalence of frailty, pre-frailty and ambulation (one of the FRAIL components) were higher in the albuminuria group than the normoalbuminuria group (23.9% vs. 12.2%, 47.9% vs.37.4%, 33.8% vs. 16.0%, respectively, P<0.05). Following the adjustment for age, eGFR, hypertension, diabetes and using ACEI/ARB, being frail or pre-frail led to an enhanced risk of albuminuria (OR frail 2.60, 95% CI frail 1.01–6.72; OR pre-frail 2.14, 95% CI pre-frail 1.03–4.44).

Conclusions

Frailty is independently associated with albuminuria when adjusted for classic cardiovascular risk factors.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the staff of the Center of Gerontology and Geriatrics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University and all participants for their support.

Funding

Funding: This study was partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81501197), Sichuan Province Science and Technology Support Program (2019YFG0194, 2020YFG0086), Research Project on Healthcare in Sichuan Province (Chuanganyan ZH2019-101, Chuanganyan 2019-105), National Clinical Research Center for Geriatrics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University (Z20191010), and Special Fund Project for Science and Technology Cooperation of Sichuan University and Zigong City, Sichuan Province (2019CDZG-25).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Center of Gerontology and Geriatrics, National Clinical Research Center for Geriatrics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 37 Guoxuexiang, Chengdu, Sichuan providence, P.R. China, 610041

    X. Yang, Y. Jiang, Y. Liu, B. Dong & Ying Li

  2. Anesthesia department of Sichuan Jinxin Women and Children’s Hospital, Sichuan, China

    J. Li

  3. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Sichuan, China

    M. Yang

Authors
  1. X. Yang
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  2. Y. Jiang
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  3. J. Li
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  4. M. Yang
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  5. Y. Liu
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  6. B. Dong
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  7. Ying Li
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Contributions

Author contributions: Ying Li led the development of the study concept. Xue Yang and Yangyang Jiang, Mengxuan Yang assisted with health data collection and frailty assessment. Birong Dong helped in study concept and design. Junxi Li, and Ying Liu helped in data analysis and manuscript writing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ying Li.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose relevant to this paper.

Ethical standards: This study was approved by the research ethics committee of Sichuan Universtiy, and all patients or their appropriate proxies had provided written informed consent.

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Yang, X., Jiang, Y., Li, J. et al. Association between Frailty and Albuminuria among Older Chinese Inpatients. J Nutr Health Aging 25, 197–200 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-020-1481-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-020-1481-6

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