Reexamining the Classification of Older Adults With Diabetes by Comorbidities and Exploring Relationships With Frailty, Disability, and 5-year Mortality

Association of frailty and pre-frailty with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in diabetes: Three prospective cohorts and a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the association of frailty status with all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in individuals with diabetes.

METHODS

Data was sourced from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988-1994), NHANES (1999-2006), and the UK Biobank. Frailty status was assessed using the Fried phenotype and classified as non-frailty, pre-frailty, and frailty. We further performed a meta-analysis involving 19 prospective cohort studies (753,480 patients) to summarize the existing evidence.

RESULTS

We included 31,225 diabetes patients from NHANES III (mean age 63.3 ± 0.8, 56.4 % female), NHANES 1999-2006 (mean age 61.6 ± 0.4, 49.7 % female), and the UK Biobank (mean age 59.6 ± 7.2, 39.5 % female). The prevalence of frailty was 9.9 %, 10.7 %, and 12.1 % across respective cohorts. During a follow-up period exceeding 13 years, we observed consistent results that frailty and pre-frailty were significantly associated with increased risks of all-cause and CVD mortality in diabetes. Notably, of the five domains used to assess frailty phenotypes, low gait speed showed the strongest association with all-cause and CVD mortality risks. Meta-analysis showed that, compared to non-frailty, frailty in patients with diabetes was associated with a 1.8-fold higher risk of all-cause mortality and a 2.0-fold higher risk of CVD mortality. Similarly, pre-frailty was associated with a 1.3-fold higher risk of all-cause mortality and a 1.4-fold higher risk of CVD mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

This study established a strong association between frailty, pre-frailty, and increased all-cause and CVD-related mortality in diabetes. Integrating frailty assessment into routine practice to identify frail and pre-frail status early on is recommended, followed by the implementation of targeted healthy lifestyle interventions to mitigate adverse outcomes.

Long-term frailty and physical performance transitions in older people with type-2 diabetes. The MIDFRAIL randomized clinical study

AIMS

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with frailty in older people. We aim to explore changes in frailty status after ≥18 months of intervention.

METHODS

298 community-dwelling older adults (>70 years) participating in MIDFRAIL followed-up for 18-24 months were randomly allocated by trial site (cluster) to intervention IG (16-weeks resistance exercise program, nutritional-educational sessions, optimization of diabetes care), or usual care group (UCG). Frailty status was assessed by the Fried Frailty Phenotype criteria at baseline and final visit. Functional status was assessed by the SPPB in every visit. We used multivariate linear and logistic regression for continuous and dichotomous outcomes. This study was registered at Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01654341).

RESULTS

Mean age was 77.7 (SD 5.54), 47% were male, 32.9% frail and 67.1% prefrail. The probability of improving the frailty status and decreasing the number of Fried's frailty criteria was higher in the IG than in the UCG (OR 2.6, 95%CI 1.3-5.4; p = 0.009 and OR 1.9; 95%CI 1.1-3.1; p = 0.02, respectively). IG participants more frequently improved ≥1 point in SPPB score (OR 1.85; 95%CI 1.09-3.12; p = 0.022). These benefits were mainly accounted for the prefrail participants.

CONCLUSIONS

The MIDFRAIL intervention improved frailty status and physical function at long-term follow-up in older people with T2D.

Association of multimorbidity patterns and order of physical frailty and cognitive impairment occurrence: a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

Chronic conditions often co-occur in specific disease patterns. Certain chronic diseases contribute to incident frailty or cognitive impairment (CI), but the associations of multimorbidity patterns and the order of frailty and CI occurrence remain unclear.

OBJECTIVES

To determine multimorbidity patterns amongst older adults and their associations with the order of frailty and CI occurrence.

DESIGN

Prospective cohort study.

METHODS

Using data from National Health and Aging Trends Study, 7522 community-dwelling participants were included and followed up for four years. Latent class analysis was conducted to identify multimorbidity patterns with clinical meaningfulness. Fine and Grey competing risks models were used to examine the associations between multimorbidity patterns and different orders of frailty and CI occurrence (frailty-first, CI-first, frailty-CI co-occurrence).

RESULTS

Four multimorbidity patterns were identified: cardiometabolic, osteoarticular, cancer-dominated and psychiatric/multisystem pattern. Compared to non-multimorbidity, all four multimorbidity patterns were associated with a higher risk of developing frailty-first, but not developing CI-first. Specifically, the psychiatric/multisystem pattern had the highest risk of developing frailty-first ( Sub-distribution hazard ratios [SHR] = 3.74, 95% confidence intervals = 2.96, 4.71), followed by osteoarticular pattern (SHR = 2.53, 95% CI = 1.98, 3.22) and cardiometabolic pattern (SHR =2.41, 95% confidence intervals = 1.96, 2.98). In addition, only participants from psychiatric/multisystem and cardiometabolic pattern showed a higher risk of frailty-CI co-occurrence.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings highlight the etiological heterogeneity between physical frailty and CI. Clinician should be aware of multimorbidity clusters and thus provide more effective strategies for comorbid older adults to prevent the onset of these two geriatric syndromes.

13. Older Adults: Standards of Care in Diabetes-2025

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) "Standards of Care in Diabetes" includes the ADA's current clinical practice recommendations and is intended to provide the components of diabetes care, general treatment goals and guidelines, and tools to evaluate quality of care. Members of the ADA Professional Practice Committee, an interprofessional expert committee, are responsible for updating the Standards of Care annually, or more frequently as warranted. For a detailed description of ADA standards, statements, and reports, as well as the evidence-grading system for ADA's clinical practice recommendations and a full list of Professional Practice Committee members, please refer to Introduction and Methodology. Readers who wish to comment on the Standards of Care are invited to do so at professional.diabetes.org/SOC.

Patterns of Comorbidity, Disability, and Home Health Care Service for Older Adults With Physical Disability: A Latent Class Analysis and Visualized Illustration

Understanding the relationships between comorbidity, disability, and home health-care services aids in user-centered care design. This study identifies patterns of these factors among older adults with physical disability living at home and explores their associations. This cross-sectional study included community-dwelling older adults assessed for Long-term Care Insurance from September 1 to December 31, 2018, in Yiwu, Zhejiang, China. We analyzed deidentified data on sociodemographics, physical disability, chronic conditions, and care plans for 1882 participants using latent class analysis and multinomial logistic regression. Five comorbidity patterns (other sporadic diseases, cancer comorbidity, other sporadic comorbidities, coronary atherosclerotic heart disease, and fracture) and four home health-care service patterns (assistance & facilitation of elimination, bedridden assistance & stoma care, bedside assistance & stoma care, and assistance & tube feeding) were identified. Four disability patterns emerged (bedridden without incontinence, bedridden & with upper limb mobility, off-bed & ADLs limited, and bedridden with incontinence). Complex associations between these patterns were observed. The study highlights the heterogeneity and complexity of the above patterns, emphasizing the importance of person-centered home health-care services and technology-supported care strategies.

The impact of frailty on clinical outcomes among older adults with diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Frailty has been identified as a risk factor for adverse outcomes in older adults with diabetes. This study aimed to investigate the impact of frailty on the prognosis of older adults with diabetes through a systematic review and meta-analysis, with the goal of offering insights for clinical decision-making.

METHODS

PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane were systematically searched from inception to September 10th, 2023. Reviewers independently selected studies, extracted data and evaluated the quality of studies. Stata 15.1 Software was used to perform the meta-analysis. The primary outcomes of this study were mortality, hospitalization and disability, and the secondary outcomes were diabetes complications (including nephropathy, microvascular complications, macroangiopathy, cardiovascular events, hypoglycemia) and urolithiasis.

RESULTS

A total of 14 studies were included in this study, with low risk of bias and moderate to good quality. The results showed that frailty increased the risk of mortality (HR 1.91, 95% CI 1.55-2.35, P < .001), hospitalization (HR 2.19, 95% CI 1.53-3.13, P < .001), and disability in older adults with diabetes (HR 3.84, 95% CI 2.35-6.28, P < .001). In addition, frailty was associated with diabetes complications (including nephropathy, microvascular complications, macroangiopathy, cardiovascular events, hypoglycemia), urolithiasis.

CONCLUSIONS

Frailty is an important predictor of adverse outcomes, such as mortality, hospitalization, and disability in older adults with diabetes. Accurate assessment of the frailty in older adults with diabetes can help improve the adverse outcomes of patients.

Impact of frailty on mortality, hospitalization, cardiovascular events, and complications in patients with diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Several studies have focused on the impact of frailty on the health outcomes of individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM). This meta-analysis aims to systematically synthesize the existing evidence on frailty and its association with mortality, hospitalizations, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetic complications in DM.

METHODS

A comprehensive search in PubMed, Embase, and SCOPUS was carried out to identify relevant studies assessing the impact of frailty on mortality, hospitalizations, complications, and cardiovascular events in individuals with DM. The quality of the included studies was evaluated using the New Castle Ottawa Scale.

RESULTS

From the 22 studies included, our meta-analysis revealed significant associations between frailty and adverse outcomes in individuals with DM. The pooled hazard ratios for mortality and frailty showed a substantial effect size of 1.84 (95% CI 1.46-2.31). Similarly, the odds ratio for hospitalization and frailty demonstrated a significant risk with an effect size of 1.63 (95% CI 1.50-1.78). In addition, frailty was associated with an increased risk of developing diabetic nephropathy (HR, 3.17; 95% CI 1.16-8.68) and diabetic retinopathy (HR, 1.94; 95% CI 0.80-4.71).

CONCLUSION

Our results show a consistent link between frailty and increased mortality, heightened hospitalization rates, and higher risks of cardiovascular disease, diabetic nephropathy, and diabetic retinopathy for patients with DM. PROSPERO Registration Number: CRD42023485166.

13. Older Adults: Standards of Care in Diabetes-2024

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) "Standards of Care in Diabetes" includes the ADA's current clinical practice recommendations and is intended to provide the components of diabetes care, general treatment goals and guidelines, and tools to evaluate quality of care. Members of the ADA Professional Practice Committee, an interprofessional expert committee, are responsible for updating the Standards of Care annually, or more frequently as warranted. For a detailed description of ADA standards, statements, and reports, as well as the evidence-grading system for ADA's clinical practice recommendations and a full list of Professional Practice Committee members, please refer to Introduction and Methodology. Readers who wish to comment on the Standards of Care are invited to do so at professional.diabetes.org/SOC.

Reply to: Comment on: Data-driven classification of health status of older adults with diabetes: The diabetes and aging study

This letter comments on the letter by Christiaens

Data-driven classification of health status of older adults with diabetes: The diabetes and aging study

BACKGROUND

We set out to identify empirically-derived health status classes of older adults with diabetes based on clusters of comorbid conditions which are associated with future complications.

METHODS

We conducted a cohort study among 105,786 older (≥65 years of age) adults with type 2 diabetes enrolled in an integrated healthcare delivery system. We used latent class analysis of 19 baseline comorbidities to derive health status classes and then compared incident complication rates (events per 100 person-years) by health status class during 5 years of follow-up. Complications included infections, hyperglycemic events, hypoglycemic events, microvascular events, cardiovascular events, and all-cause mortality.

RESULTS

Three health status classes were identified: Class 1 (58% of the cohort) had the lowest prevalence of most baseline comorbidities, Class 2 (22%) had the highest prevalence of obesity, arthritis, and depression, and Class 3 (20%) had the highest prevalence of cardiovascular conditions. The risk for incident complications was highest for Class 3, intermediate for Class 2 and lowest for Class 1. For example, the age, sex and race-adjusted rates for cardiovascular events (per 100 person-years) for Class 3, Class 2 and Class 1 were 6.5, 2.3, and 1.6, respectively; 2.1, 1.2, 0.7 for hypoglycemia; and 8.0, 3.8, and 2.3 for mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

Three health status classes of older adults with diabetes were identified based on prevalent comorbidities and were associated with marked differences in risk of complications. These health status classes can inform population health management and guide the individualization of diabetes care.

13. Older Adults: Standards of Care in Diabetes-2023

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) "Standards of Care in Diabetes" includes the ADA's current clinical practice recommendations and is intended to provide the components of diabetes care, general treatment goals and guidelines, and tools to evaluate quality of care. Members of the ADA Professional Practice Committee, a multidisciplinary expert committee, are responsible for updating the Standards of Care annually, or more frequently as warranted. For a detailed description of ADA standards, statements, and reports, as well as the evidence-grading system for ADA's clinical practice recommendations and a full list of Professional Practice Committee members, please refer to Introduction and Methodology. Readers who wish to comment on the Standards of Care are invited to do so at professional.diabetes.org/SOC.

The pattern of physical disability and determinants of activities of daily living among people with diabetes in Bangladesh

INTRODUCTION

Diabetes mellitus itself is a known predictor of physical disability and impairment in activities of daily living (ADL); however, there are existing controversies about the factors explaining the association between diabetes and disability. Therefore, we assessed the possible determinants associated with ADL impairment among people with diabetes in Dhaka city, Bangladesh.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study among 480 people with diabetes aged between 50 and 70 years, and attended a tertiary level hospital in Dhaka city. For determining the ADL impairment, we used the Katz Index Scoring (6 = no impairment; <6 = impairment). Age, sex, educational attainment, household expenditure, body mass index, the status of diabetes (controlled or uncontrolled), hypertension and medication adherence to anti-diabetic drugs were included in the statistical models, and we defined any ADL impairment (Katz score <6) as an event. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to assess the significance of relevant factors.

RESULTS

The mean age of the participants was 59.0 (standard deviation [SD], 7.0) years. The majority of the participants (76.3%) had at least some sort of physical disability. In multivariable logistic regression analysis after adjusting for all covariates simultaneously, age (odds ratio [95% confidence interval]: 1.35 [1.20 to 1.75] per 1-SD increment), BMI (1.32 [1.08 to 1.21] per 1-SD increment), higher educational attainment (0.34 [0.09-0.90]), multi-morbidity (2.79 [1.48-5.25]) and uncontrolled diabetes (1.35 [1.10-1.45]) were independently associated with ADL impairment.

CONCLUSIONS

Physical disability was common, and ADL impairment was associated with age, educational attainment, BMI, multi-morbidities and uncontrolled diabetes among the people with diabetes in Bangladesh.

13. Older Adults: Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes-2022

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) "Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes" includes the ADA's current clinical practice recommendations and is intended to provide the components of diabetes care, general treatment goals and guidelines, and tools to evaluate quality of care. Members of the ADA Professional Practice Committee, a multidisciplinary expert committee (https://doi.org/10.2337/dc22-SPPC), are responsible for updating the Standards of Care annually, or more frequently as warranted. For a detailed description of ADA standards, statements, and reports, as well as the evidence-grading system for ADA's clinical practice recommendations, please refer to the Standards of Care Introduction (https://doi.org/10.2337/dc22-SINT). Readers who wish to comment on the Standards of Care are invited to do so at professional.diabetes.org/SOC.

Self-Care Experiences of Empty-Nest Elderly Living With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Qualitative Study From China

Background

The number of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) cases among empty-nest elderly increases with increasing aging in China. Self-care plays an important role in preventing and reducing adverse outcomes of diabetes; however, few studies focus on self-care experiences of empty-nest elderly with T2DM.

Objective

To explore self-care experiences for a chronic disease among empty-nest elderly patients with T2DM in mainland China.

Methods

A descriptive phenomenological design was used in this study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for 15 empty-nesters with T2DM. Interviews were implemented in department of endocrinology at a tertiary teaching hospital located in Shandong province, east of China.

Results

The participants were poorly adept with monitoring their blood glucose and lacked the ability to deal with abnormal blood glucose levels. Most participants had a good relationship with medication and physical activity. Living without children was perceived as a benefit that improved dietary management and is a disadvantage in terms of economic and emotional support and access to medical resources. Elderly empty-nesters also lacked knowledge about diabetes and paid little attention to potential complications.

Conclusion

Empty-nest elderly patients with T2DM value medication compliance and lifestyle modification more than blood glucose monitoring, complication prevention, and coping with negative emotions. Friends and spouses play indispensable roles in patients' self-care motivation and maintenance. Diabetes education on self-care, access to medical resources, and social support is needed for better diabetes management.