Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Impact of Frailty on Heart Failure Prognosis: Is Sex Relevant?

  • Review
  • Published:
Current Heart Failure Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

Heart failure (HF) is one of the most frequent causes of hospital admission in elderly patients, especially in women, who present a high prevalence of geriatric syndromes like frailty. Studies have suggested that frailty and its impact may also differ between males and females. Understanding how frailty may differently affect HF patients depending on sex is therefore imperative for providing personalized care. The aim of this review is to summarize the role of sex in the prognostic impact of frailty in HF patients.

Recent Findings

Numerous studies have identified frailty as a significant predictor of all-cause mortality and hospital readmissions. A recent study of elderly HF out-patients demonstrated that while women had a higher prevalence of frailty, it was an independent predictor of mortality and readmission only in men. Moreover, another study revealed that physical frailty was associated with time to first clinical event among men but not among women. These results raise the question about why frailty affects differently HF prognosis in men and women.

Summary

Women with HF present a higher prevalence of frailty, especially when it is considered as physical decline. Nevertheless, frailty affects differently HF prognosis in men and women. Women with HF present lower mortality than men and frailty is related with prognosis only in men. The different severity of HF between men and women and other hormonal, psychosocial, and clinical factors might be involved in this fact.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, JAPR, upon reasonable request.

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance

  1. Conrad N, Judge A, Tran J, Mohseni H, Hedgecott D, Crespillo AP, et al. Temporal trends and patterns in heart failure incidence: a population-based study of 4 million individuals. Lancet. 2018;391:572–80.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. McDonagh TA, Metra M, Adamo M, Gardner RS, Baumbach A, Böhm M, et al. 2021 ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure. Eur Heart J. 2021;42:3599–726.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Ijaz N, Buta B, Xue Q-L, Mohess DT, Bushan A, Tran H, et al. Interventions for frailty among older adults with cardiovascular disease: JACC state-of-the-art revieW. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022;79:482–503.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Abboud A, Gaggin HK. Heart failure and frailty: expanding the gender paradox. Int J Cardiol. 2021;341:60–1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Siddiqi TJ, Khan Minhas AM, Greene SJ, Van Spall HGC, Khan SS, Pandey A, et al. Trends in heart failure-related mortality among older adults in the United States from 1999–2019. JACC Heart Fail. 2022;10:851–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Díez-Villanueva P, Jiménez-Méndez C, López-Lluva MT, Wasniewski S, Solís J, Fernández-Friera L, et al. Heart failure in the elderly: the role of biological and sociocultural aspects related to sex. Curr Heart Fail Rep. 2023;20:321–32.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Dunlay SM, Roger VL. Understanding the epidemic of heart failure: past, present, and future. Curr Heart Fail Rep. 2014;11:404–15.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Savarese G, Lund LH. Global public health burden of heart failure. Card Fail Rev. 2017;3:7–11.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Virani SS, Alonso A, Benjamin EJ, Bittencourt MS, Callaway CW, Carson AP, et al. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics-2020 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2020;141:e139-596.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. McMurray JJ, Petrie MC, Murdoch DR, Davie AP. Clinical epidemiology of heart failure: public and private health burden. Eur Heart J. 1998;19 Suppl P:P9–16. PMID: 9886707.

  11. Meyer S, Brouwers FP, Voors AA, Hillege HL, de Boer RA, Gansevoort RT, et al. Sex differences in new-onset heart failure. Clin Res Cardiol. 2015;104:342–50.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Roger VL. Epidemiology of heart failure. Circ Res. 2013;113:646–59.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Chioncel O, Lainscak M, Seferovic PM, Anker SD, Crespo-Leiro MG, Harjola V-P, et al. Epidemiology and one-year outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure and preserved, mid-range and reduced ejection fraction: an analysis of the ESC Heart Failure Long-Term Registry. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017;19:1574–85.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Bouthoorn S, Valstar GB, Gohar A, den Ruijter HM, Reitsma HB, Hoes AW, et al. The prevalence of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in men and women with type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Diab Vasc Dis Res. 2018;15:477–93.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Spencer FA, Meyer TE, Gore JM, Goldberg RJ. Heterogeneity in the management and outcomes of patients with acute myocardial infarction complicated by heart failure: the National Registry of Myocardial Infarction. Circulation. 2002;105:2605–10.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. French JK, Armstrong PW, Cohen E, Kleiman NS, O’Connor CM, Hellkamp AS, et al. Cardiogenic shock and heart failure post-percutaneous coronary intervention in ST-elevation myocardial infarction: observations from “Assessment of pexelizumab in acute myocardial infarction.” Am Heart J. 2011;162:89–97.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Goldberg RJ, Gore JM, Alpert JS, Osganian V, de Groot J, Bade J, et al. Cardiogenic shock after acute myocardial infarction. Incidence and mortality from a community-wide perspective, 1975 to 1988. N Engl J Med. 1991;325:1117–22.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Wong SC, Sleeper LA, Monrad ES, Menegus MA, Palazzo A, Dzavik V, et al. Absence of gender differences in clinical outcomes in patients with cardiogenic shock complicating acute myocardial infarction. A report from the SHOCK Trial Registry. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2001;38:1395–401.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Hellermann JP, Jacobsen SJ, Reeder GS, Lopez-Jimenez F, Weston SA, Roger VL. Heart failure after myocardial infarction: prevalence of preserved left ventricular systolic function in the community. Am Heart J. 2003;145:742–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Lala A, Tayal U, Hamo CE, Youmans Q, Al-Khatib SM, Bozkurt B, et al. Sex differences in heart failure. J Card Fail. 2022;28:477–98.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Dewan P, Rørth R, Raparelli V, Campbell RT, Shen L, Jhund PS, et al. Sex-related differences in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Circ Heart Fail. 2019;12:e006539.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Scicchitano P, Paolillo C, De Palo M, Potenza A, Abruzzese S, Basile M, et al. Sex differences in the evaluation of congestion markers in patients with acute heart failure. J Cardiovasc Dev Dis. 2022;9:67.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Simon T, Mary-Krause M, Funck-Brentano C, Jaillon P. Sex differences in the prognosis of congestive heart failure: results from the Cardiac Insufficiency Bisoprolol Study (CIBIS II). Circulation. 2001;103:375–80.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. O’Meara E, Clayton T, McEntegart MB, McMurray JJV, Piña IL, Granger CB, et al. Sex differences in clinical characteristics and prognosis in a broad spectrum of patients with heart failure: results of the Candesartan in Heart failure: Assessment of Reduction in Mortality and morbidity (CHARM) program. Circulation. 2007;115:3111–20.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Califf RM, Adams KF, McKenna WJ, Gheorghiade M, Uretsky BF, McNulty SE, et al. A randomized controlled trial of epoprostenol therapy for severe congestive heart failure: the Flolan International Randomized Survival Trial (FIRST). Am Heart J. 1997;134:44–54.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Ghali JK, Krause-Steinrauf HJ, Adams KF, Khan SS, Rosenberg YD, Yancy CW, et al. Gender differences in advanced heart failure: insights from the BEST study. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2003;42:2128–34.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Johnson MR. Heart failure in women: a special approach? J Heart Lung Transplant. 1994;13:S130-134.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Mendes LA, Davidoff R, Cupples LA, Ryan TJ, Jacobs AK. Congestive heart failure in patients with coronary artery disease: the gender paradox. Am Heart J. 1997;134:207–12.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Crespo Leiro MG, Paniagua Martín MJ. Insuficiencia cardiaca. ¿Son diferentes las mujeres? Rev Esp Cardiol. 2006;59:725–35.

  30. Jessup M, Piña IL. Is it important to examine gender differences in the epidemiology and outcome of severe heart failure? J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2004;127:1247–52.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Go AS, Mozaffarian D, Roger VL, Benjamin EJ, Berry JD, Borden WB, et al. Executive summary: heart disease and stroke statistics–2013 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2013;127:143–52.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Chivite D, Franco J, Formiga F. Insuficiencia cardíaca crónica en el paciente anciano. Rev Esp Geriatr Gerontol. 2015;50:237–46.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Dharmarajan K, Rich MW. Epidemiology, pathophysiology, and prognosis of heart failure in older adults. Heart Fail Clin. 2017;13:417–26.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Wong CY, Chaudhry SI, Desai MM, Krumholz HM. Trends in comorbidity, disability, and polypharmacy in heart failure. Am J Med. 2011;124:136–43.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  35. Clegg A, Young J, Iliffe S, Rikkert MO, Rockwood K. Frailty in elderly people. Lancet. 2013;381:752–62.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Aguilar-Iglesias L, Merino-Merino A, Sanchez-Corral E, Garcia-Sanchez M-J, Santos-Sanchez I, Saez-Maleta R, et al. Differences according to age in the diagnostic performance of cardiac biomarkers to predict frailty in patients with acute heart failure. Biomolecules. 2022;12:245.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  37. Ohara M, Kohara K, Tabara Y, Ochi M, Nagai T, Igase M, et al. Sarcopenic obesity and arterial stiffness, pressure wave reflection and central pulse pressure: The J-SHIPP study. Int J Cardiol. 2014;174:214–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Moro C, Lafontan M. Natriuretic peptides and cGMP signaling control of energy homeostasis. Am J Physiol-Heart Circul Physiol. 2013;304:H358–68.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Glezeva N, Voon V, Watson C, Horgan S, McDonald K, Ledwidge M, et al. Exaggerated inflammation and monocytosis associate with diastolic dysfunction in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: evidence of M2 macrophage activation in disease pathogenesis. J Card Fail. 2015;21:167–77.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Afilalo J, Alexander KP, Mack MJ, Maurer MS, Green P, Allen LA, et al. Frailty assessment in the cardiovascular care of older adults. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014;63:747–62.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Puthucheary ZA, Rawal J, McPhail M, Connolly B, Ratnayake G, Chan P, et al. Acute skeletal muscle wasting in critical illness. JAMA. 2013;310:1591–600.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Dewan P, Jackson A, Jhund PS, Shen L, Ferreira JP, Petrie MC, et al. The prevalence and importance of frailty in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction - an analysis of PARADIGM-HF and ATMOSPHERE. Eur J Heart Fail. 2020;22:2123–33.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Aguilar-Iglesias L, Merino-Merino A, Sanchez-Corral E, Garcia-Sanchez M-J, Santos-Sanchez I, Dominguez-Calvo J, et al. Fast systematic geriatric assessment in acute heart failure patients admitted in Cardiology. Heart Lung. 2023;60:133–8. The prevalence of geriatric syndromes, especially frailty, is very high in patients admitted for acute heart failure. Frail patients with acute heart failure had an adverse clinical profile with more prevalence of concomitant geriatric syndromes.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Theou O, Brothers TD, Mitnitski A, Rockwood K. Operationalization of frailty using eight commonly used scales and comparison of their ability to predict all-cause mortality. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2013;61:1537–51.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Lee DR, Kawas CH, Gibbs L, Corrada MM. Prevalence of frailty and factors associated with frailty in individuals aged 90 and older: the 90+ Study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2016;64:2257–62.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Díez-Villanueva P, Jiménez-Méndez C, Alfonso F. Heart failure in the elderly. J Geriatr Cardiol. 2021;18:219–32.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  47. Díez-Villanueva P, Arizá-Solé A, Vidán MT, Bonanad C, Formiga F, Sanchis J, et al. Recomendaciones de la Sección de Cardiología Geriátrica de la Sociedad Española de Cardiología para la valoración de la fragilidad en el anciano con cardiopatía. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2019;72:63–71.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Aucoin SD, Hao M, Sohi R, Shaw J, Bentov I, Walker D, et al. Accuracy and feasibility of clinically applied frailty instruments before surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Anesthesiology. 2020;133:78–95.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Feenstra M, Oud FMM, Jansen CJ, Smidt N, van Munster BC, de Rooij SE. Reproducibility and responsiveness of the Frailty Index and Frailty Phenotype in older hospitalized patients. BMC Geriatr. 2021;21:499.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  50. Oviedo-Briones M, Laso ÁR, Carnicero JA, Cesari M, Grodzicki T, Gryglewska B, et al. A comparison of frailty assessment instruments in different clinical and social care settings: the Frailtools Project. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2021;22:607.e7-607.e12.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Collard RM, Boter H, Schoevers RA, Oude Voshaar RC. Prevalence of frailty in community-dwelling older persons: a systematic review. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2012;60:1487–92.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Davis MR, Lee CS, Corcoran A, Gupta N, Uchmanowicz I, Denfeld QE. Gender differences in the prevalence of frailty in heart failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Cardiol. 2021;333:133–40. Overall in HF, women had a 26% higher relative risk of being frail compared with men.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  53. Maslov PZ, Kim JK, Argulian E, Ahmadi A, Narula N, Singh M, et al. Is cardiac diastolic dysfunction a part of post-menopausal syndrome? JACC Heart Fail. 2019;7:192–203.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Woo J, Yu R, Wong M, Yeung F, Wong M, Lum C. Frailty screening in the community using the FRAIL Scale. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2015;16:412–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Rosas-Carrasco O, Cruz-Arenas E, Parra-Rodríguez L, García-González AI, Contreras-González LH, Szlejf C. Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the FRAIL Scale to assess frailty in Mexican adults. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2016;17:1094–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Rockwood K, Song X, MacKnight C, Bergman H, Hogan DB, McDowell I, et al. A global clinical measure of fitness and frailty in elderly people. CMAJ. 2005;173:489–95.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  57. Denfeld QE, Habecker BA, Camacho SA, Roberts Davis M, Gupta N, Hiatt SO, et al. Characterizing sex differences in physical frailty phenotypes in heart failure. Circ Heart Fail. 2021;14:e008076.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  58. Archer SH, Lee CS, Gupta N, Roberts Davis M, Hiatt SO, Purnell JQ, et al. Sex differences in the impact of physical frailty on outcomes in heart failure. Heart Lung. 2023;61:66–71.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Vidán MT, Blaya-Novakova V, Sánchez E, Ortiz J, Serra-Rexach JA, Bueno H. Prevalence and prognostic impact of frailty and its components in non-dependent elderly patients with heart failure. Eur J Heart Fail. 2016;18:869–75.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Rodríguez-Pascual C, Paredes-Galán E, Ferrero-Martínez A-I, Gonzalez-Guerrero J-L, Hornillos-Calvo M, Menendez-Colino R, et al. The frailty syndrome is associated with adverse health outcomes in very old patients with stable heart failure: a prospective study in six Spanish hospitals. Int J Cardiol. 2017;236:296–303.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  61. Zhang Y, Yuan M, Gong M, Tse G, Li G, Liu T. Frailty and clinical outcomes in heart failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2018;19:1003-1008.e1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Jiménez-Méndez C, Díez-Villanueva P, Bonanad C, Ortiz-Cortés C, Barge-Caballero E, Goirigolzarri J, et al. Fragilidad y pronóstico de los pacientes mayores con insuficiencia cardiaca. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2022;75:1011–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  63. Heberton GA, Nassif M, Bierhals A, Novak E, LaRue SJ, Lima B, et al. Usefulness of psoas muscle area determined by computed tomography to predict mortality or prolonged length of hospital stay in patients undergoing left ventricular assist device implantation. Am J Cardiol. 2016;118:1363–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  64. Díez-Villanueva P, Jiménez-Méndez C, Bonanad C, Ortiz-Cortés C, Barge-Caballero E, Goirigolzarri J, et al. Sex differences in the impact of frailty in elderly outpatients with heart failure. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2022;9:1000700. In elderly outpatients with HF frailty is more common in women than in men. However, frailty is only associated with mortality in men.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  65. McAlister FA. Frailty: a new vital sign in heart failure comes of age. Eur Heart J. 2023;44:4445–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  66. Fried LP, Kronmal RA, Newman AB, Bild DE, Mittelmark MB, Polak JF, et al. Risk factors for 5-year mortality in older adults: the Cardiovascular Health Study. JAMA. 1998;279:585–92.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  67. Gordon EH, Hubbard RE. Do sex differences in chronic disease underpin the sex-frailty paradox? Mech Ageing Dev. 2019;179:44–50.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  68. Gordon EH, Hubbard RE. Differences in frailty in older men and women. Med J Aust. 2020;212:183–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  69. Kitzman DW, Whellan DJ, Duncan P, Pastva AM, Mentz RJ, Reeves GR, et al. Physical rehabilitation for older patients hospitalized for heart failure. N Engl J Med. 2021;385:203–16.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  70. O’Connor CM, Whellan DJ, Lee KL, Keteyian SJ, Cooper LS, Ellis SJ, et al. Efficacy and safety of exercise training in patients with chronic heart failure: HF-ACTION randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2009;301:1439–50.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  71. Reid N, Young A, Shafiee Hanjani L, Hubbard RE, Gordon EH. Sex-specific interventions to prevent and manage frailty. Maturitas. 2022;164:23–30.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Spanish Section of Geriatric Cardiology, for the support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

All authors wrote the main manuscript (LAI and JAP section 1 and 2, PDV and LVM section 3 and 4 and CJM and APA section 5 and abstract). JAPR coordinated the process and corrected the final document. PDV and LVM prepared the table. LAI corrected the English and prepared the references. CJM and APA prepared the figures. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jose-Angel Perez-Rivera.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Aguilar-Iglesias, L., Perez-Asensio, A., Vilches-Miguel, L. et al. Impact of Frailty on Heart Failure Prognosis: Is Sex Relevant?. Curr Heart Fail Rep 21, 131–138 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11897-024-00650-4

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11897-024-00650-4

Keywords

Navigation