A point to evaluate in the COVID-19 pandemic process: Frailty

Abstract

Globally, as of September 16, 2020, COVID-19 had infected approximately 29 million people and caused the death of 930 thousand people around the world. While the whole world is at risk of COVID-19 infection, the elderly in particular represent the highest risk group. Those who are very old and frail and have cognitive impairment and multi-comorbidity, are the most vulnerable to the severe consequences of this infection. Frailty is a less well-known and often overlooked issue compared to other factors. In the world, the prevalence of frailty is seen to rise with the increase of the aging population, and the prevalence of frailty among the elderly people living in society is thought to be 4 to 59%. The COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected the entire world, leads to the necessity of taking care of elderly individuals in nursing homes and care centers. The fact that most persons in such facilities are advanced in age, frail and have multi-comorbidity, makes the management of the care even more difficult. It is thought that there may be a potential relationship between frailty and the course of COVID-19 and deaths resulting from the infection. The need for a holistic assessment of not only the age of the patient but also the state of frailty, is emphasized to ensure the triage of elderly persons and resource allocation during COVID-19 pandemic process. This review was performed to raise awareness of the healthcare professionals on the importance of frailty among the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic process and to provide general information about the instruments that can be used to measure the frailty status of the elderly, when managing the COVID-19 pandemic process.