Importance of frailty in coronavirus death risk
FRAILTY is as important as either age or underlying health issues in determining whether someone may die from Covid-19, a new study has found.
Researchers from Cardiff University were involved in the research.
The analysis of 1,564 hospital patients at 10 sites in the UK and one in Italy by specialists in geriatric care suggests increasing frailty is linked to a higher risk of death and longer time spent in hospital.
The study, published in
The Lancet Public Health, was carried out by researchers from Cardiff University, King’s College London, Salford Royal and North Bristol NHS trusts, among others, and is the first to explore the impact of frailty on death risk in the current pandemic.
The researchers said their findings showed frailty assessment was crucial to help make clinical decisions in Covid-19 treatment – and urged its use as a key indicator to assess a patient’s risk of dying.
Chief investigator and lead author Dr Jonathan Hewitt, from Cardiff University’s School of Medicine, said: “NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) guidelines put in place in March already recommend using frailty to assess Covid-19 patients – but we don’t know how much this is being used in practice.
“Our study shows it is vital to frontline care; every Covid-19 patient should be assessed for frailty because we now know that being frail – no matter how old you are or what underlying conditions you may have – affects your chance of recovery from this disease.
“Up until now, the focus has been on age and other health issues - but we believe this should now shift to frailty to make sure patients are receiving the appropriate, targeted treatment.”
Frailty is a clinical condition signified by a loss of reserves, energy and wellbeing that leaves people vulnerable to sudden changes in health and at risk of hospital admission, the need for long-term care or death.
The aim of the COPE (Covid-19 in Older People) study was to establish the prevalence of frailty in Covid-19 patients – and investigate its influence on mortality and length of hospital stay.
The effect of frailty on survival in patients with Covid-19. COPE (Covid in Older People): A multicentre, European observational cohort study, can be found online at www.thelancet.com
SOUTH Wales has become a go-to for many big productions of TV and film in recent years but the coronavirus pandemic stopped the cameras rolling.
Now as lockdown restrictions begin to ease, some high profile productions are getting ready to start filming again.
It’s been a difficult time for the film and TV industry across the world and those productions in Wales affected included the third series of television drama Keeping Faith/Un Bore Mercher.
Produced by Vox Pictures, based in Cardiff Bay, filming for Keeping Faith was halted back in March but they now hope to resume filming towards the end of July.
Adrian Bate from Vox Pictures, said: “The filming on Keeping Faith series three was halted mid-production in March but we are excited to be able to resume shooting in Wales in July.
“Hopefully we are due to deliver the series to S4C for transmission later in 2020 and BBC Wales for transmission early in 2021.”
The third series of popular Netflix drama Sex Education and the third series of A Discovery of Witches – which has previously been filmed in and around Cardiff – are also currently preparing to resume filming in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, one big production already filmed in South Wales and soon to be released is A Brave New World, starring Demi Moore – which was shot at Dragon Studios in Llanharan and various locations nearby – which will air on Sky.