Süleyman Emre KOÇYİĞİT, Ali KIRIK
European Journal of Geriatrics and Gerontology - 2026;8(2):93-100
Objective: Frailty is related to both malnutrition and systemic inflammation. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between the haemoglobin, albumin, lymphocyte, and platelet (HALP) score and different stages of frailty in community-dwelling older adults. Materials and Methods: A total of 439 patients admitted to our geriatric outpatient clinic from January 2023 to June 2024 were included in the analysis. All participants underwent a comprehensive geriatric assessment, and frailty status was determined according to the Fried frailty phenotype. Patients were then categorized into three groups-frail, prefrail, and robust. The HALP score was calculated for each participant and compared across these three groups. Results: The mean age of the study population was 76.12 +/- 6.74 years; 71.3% were female. The frail group had a higher mean age, a higher proportion of females, and higher frequencies of dementia, recurrent falls, geriatric depression, polypharmacy, malnutrition, and probable sarcopenia compared with the prefrail and robust groups (p < 0.05). The median HALP score was significantly lower in the frail and prefrail groups than in the robust group (frail: 34.9 vs. 48.3, p < 0.001; prefrail: 38.6 vs. 48.3, p = 0.005). In the logistic regression analysis, after adjustment for potential confounding factors, the association remained statistically significant in both the frail and prefrail groups, compared with the robust group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The HALP score is associated with both prefrailty and frailty and may serve as a risk-stratification marker in older adults.
