Frailty and COVID 19 Infection in Hospitalized Veterans: A Case Series

Abstract

Frailty, a clinical syndrome characterized by vulnerability to stressors resulting from loss of physiological reserve across multiple systems. In patients with COVID 19 infection, the presence of frailty may place older adults at higher risk for poor clinical outcomes including hospitalizations and mortality. The aim of this case-series study was to describe the characteristics of patients with frailty and COVID-19 who were hospitalized at a VA Medical Center. A VA Frailty Index (VA-FI) was generated at baseline as a proportion of variables from electronic health records. The VA-FI categorized Veterans into non-frail (FI