Frailty in the ICU

Frailty in the ICU - #45

Take Quiz

Frailty assessment of patients at time of ICU admission may be useful in identification of vulnerable elderly patients.

Frail elderly patients who are critically ill.

Assess ICU patients for frailty. Assess ICU patients for frailty.

  • Define the frailty syndrome.
  • Describe the criteria used to diagnose frailty.
  • Use the Clinical Frailty Scale as part of prognostication tools.
  1. McDermid, R.C., Stelfox, H.T., and Bagshaw, S.M. Frailty in the critically ill: A novel concept. Critical Care. 2011; 15:301. http://ccforum.com/content/15/1/301.
  2. McDermid, R.C. and Bagshaw, S.M. ICU and critical care outreach for the elderly. Best Practice & Research Clinical Anaesthesiology. 2011; 5:439-449.
  3. Fried LP, Tangen CM, Walston J, et al. Frailty in older adults: evidence for a phenotype. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2001;56:M146–M156.
  4. Fried LP. Frailty. Geriatrics Review Syllabus: A Core Curriculum in Geriatrics Medicine. 8th Edition. 2014.
  5. Bagshaw SM, McDermid RC. The role of frailty in outcomes from critical illness. Curr Opin Crit Care. 2013;19:496–503.
  6. Rockwood, K., Song, X., Macnight, C., Bergman, H., Hogan, D.B., McDowell, I., and Mitnitski, A. A global clinical measure of fitness and frailty in elderly people. CMAJ. 2005; 173(5):489-495.
  7. Bagshaw, S.M., Stelfox, H.T., McDermind, R.C., Rolfson, D.B., Tsuyuki, R.T., Baig, N., Artiuch, B., Ibrahim, Q., Stollery, D.E., Rokosh, E., and Majumdar, S.R. Association between frailty and short- and long-term outcomes among critically ill patients: a multicenter prospective cohort study. CMAJ. 2014; 186(2):E95-E102.
This GFF ___ my competence in geriatrics.

Olivia Mac, Tessa Damm DO, Bambi Wessel, Gabriel Manzi MD

Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI