NESLİHAN KAYAHAN SATIŞ, MEHMET İLKİN NAHARCI
The Journal of European Internal Medicine Professionals - 2025;3(1):29-34
Background: Frailty, characterized by decreased physiological reserves and an increased risk of adverse health outcomes, is prevalent among older adults with diabetes mellitus (DM). This study aimed to investigate how frailty status affects mortality in older individuals with diabetes. Methods: Patients previously diagnosed with DM who presented to a tertiary referral center between March 2020 and March 2022 were selected and followed up for at least two years. The frailty assessment used the Fried frailty phenotype criteria, and patients were categorized as frail, pre-frail, or robust. Multivariate regression models were utilized to identify mortality risk factors. Results: The study cohort comprised 424 patients with a median age of 75 years, of which 65.8% were female. Among the patients, 28.3% were classified as frail and 66.0% as pre-frail. During the observation period, the overall mortality rate was 6.8%, with a significantly higher mortality rate in frail patients (15%) compared to pre-frail patients (3.9%) (p<0.001). Multivariate analysis identified frailty as a significant predictor of increased mortality risk in the overall population (HR=2.84, 95% CI: 1.206.69, p=0.017) and in men (HR=7.35, 95% CI: 1.1748.35, p=0.033), but not in women (HR=2.70, 95% CI: 0.997.30, p=0.051). Conclusion: Frailty markedly elevates the risk of mortality in older adults with DM, with this effect being particularly pronounced in males. These findings emphasize the significance of early identification and management of frailty in enhancing survival outcomes in this population.
