The Concept of Frailty in Geriatric Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Patients

Abstract

Frailty, which is a geriatric syndrome characterized by weakness, impaired mobility, balance, and minimal reserve, is highly prevalent in the renal population. While distinct from disability and comorbidity, some of the simplest and most clinically useful scales incorporate both the burden of medical symptoms and the effect on functional independence into the evaluation of frailty. In the renal population, the frailty phenotype has been shown to correlate with important outcomes such as hospitalization and survival. Further work is required to establish if the presence of, and the treatments used for renal disease, promote the sick role and decreased participation in exercise with overestimation of frailty or if the frailty phenotype identifies people who may benefit from rehabilitation and other interventions.