LOS ANGELES — COVID-19 survivors appear to be at greater risk for new medical conditions. A new study sought to determine if previous infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus is associated with a change in frailty among older U.S. veterans.
The researchers from the VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System pointed out that, among older adults, where multimorbidity and functional impairment are common, frailty measurement can provide a tool for understanding how infection impacts future health beyond a one-disease-at-a-time approach. The VA Puget Sound Healthcare System in Washington, the VA Boston Healthcare System, the VA Palo Alto, CA, Healthcare System, the Durham, NC, VAMC and the VA Portland, OR, Healthcare System also took part in the study.
Data came from the VA COVID-19 Observational Research Collaboratory, which extracted VA medical record data. Included in this study were veterans who had COVID-19 from March 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021. They were matched with uninfected controls. The study team excluded veterans who were younger than 50 at index or did not survive 12 months after. Results were published in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society.1
They assessed frailty was at the index date and 12 months using the VA Frailty Index (VA-FI). The number of new deficits were tracked over 12 months.
The study identified 91,338 COVID-19-infected veterans and an equal number of matched controls. Median (IQR) age was 68.9 years (60.3-74.2), 5% were female, 71% were white, and baseline VA-FI was 0.16 (0.10, 0.26). Results indicated that the median (IQR) number of new deficits at 1 year was 1 (0-2) for infected and 0 (0-1) for uninfected controls. After adjustment, those with COVID-19 accrued 1.54 (95% CI 1.52-1.56) times more deficits than those who did not. The five most common new deficits were:
- fatigue (9.7%),
- anemia (6.8%),
- muscle atrophy (6.5%),
- gait abnormality (6.2%) and
- arthritis (5.8%).
“We found a greater increase in frailty among older veterans with COVID-19 compared with matched uninfected controls, suggesting that COVID-19 infection has long-term implications for vulnerability and disability among older adults. Functional impairments such as fatigue, impaired mobility, and joint pain may warrant specific attention in this population,” the authors advised.
- Seligman B, Wysham KD, Shahoumian T, Orkaby AR, Goetz MB, Osborne TF, Smith VA, Maciejewski ML, Hynes DM, Boyko EJ, Ioannou GN. Change in frailty among older COVID-19 survivors. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2024 Dec;72(12):3800-3809. doi: 10.1111/jgs.19255. Epub 2024 Nov 9. PMID: 39520139.
