Swiss Frailty Network and Repository

Physical frailty is an age-related medical syndrome defined by a decline in multiple body systems, thus causing increased vulnerability, even in the face of minor stressors (1) It has been linked to multiple negative health outcomes, including extended length of stay in acute care due to complications, hospital re-admissions, and mortality among older patients. About 10-30% of community-dwelling seniors are considered frail(2) with an additional 40% being at risk for the condition (pre-frailty). By 2030, the number of older adults with frailty is expected to at least double, in parallel to the projected growth of the older segment of the population. Frail seniors consume 3-times more health care resources then their robust counterparts. Thus, the health economic impact of frailty is expected to be enormous and a call to action has been posed. Big data in healthcare provides important opportunities for the identification of frailty among the growing number of older patients. This is relevant as frailty is considered a better predictor of adverse outcomes than chronological age alone. Therefore, several medical specialties have started to assess frailty in cancer patients, heart surgery candidates and potential organ transplant recipients.