Gender differences in the impact of frailty on 90-day hospital readmission in heart failure patients: a retrospective cohort study

AIMS: Frequent hospital readmissions after heart failure (HF) are common, however, there is limited data on the association between frailty status and hospital readmission in HF patients. This study aimed to examine the 90-day hospital readmission rates and gender differences in the impact of frailty on 90-day hospital readmission in HF patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: We retrospectively analysed hospital discharge records of 279 patients (men = 169, women = 110) who were diagnosed with HF between January 2017 and December 2018. Frailty was assessed using the Korean version of the FRAIL scale. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore the factors predicting 90-day hospital readmission by gender. The prevalence of frailty and 90-day hospital readmissions were ∼54.4% and 22.7% in women, compared with 45.6% and 27.8% in men, respectively. Frail patients with HF have an increased risk of 90-day hospital readmission in both males and females. Particularly, women with frailty had a higher risk of 90-day hospital readmission [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 6.72, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.41-32.09] than men with frailty (adjusted OR 4.40, 95% CI 1.73-11.17). CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight that readmission within 90 days of hospitalization for HF can be predicted by patients' frailty. More importantly, we found that women with frailty have a greater risk of readmission than men with frailty. Screening for frailty should therefore be integrated into the assessment of HF patients. Tailored interventions for preventing adverse outcomes should consider gender-associated factors in HF patients with frailty.