Objective:To assess the cardiac autonomic nervous function in elderly patients with frailty.Methods:Patients aged ≥ 65 years old admitted in Beijing Hospital from September 2018 to August 2019 were enrolled in this study. Clinical frailty score was used to assess the frailty. The cardiac autonomic modulation was evaluated by sinus heart rate turbulence analysis through 24 h electrocardiogram recording.Results:A total of 129 elderly patients were finally enrolled in this study with a mean age of (77.5±6.4) years, 58.1% of them were male. There were 53 patients in frail group and 76 patients in non-frail group. The age of the frailty group was significantly higher than that of the non-frailty group [(80.5±5.5) vs.(75.3±6.2)]; the prevalence of hypertension [84.9%(45/53)], heart failure [32.1%(17/53)] and peripheral vascular diseases [32.1%(17/53)] in the frailty group was significantly higher than that in the non-frailty group [65.8%(50/76), 1.3%(1/76), 17.1%(13/76); t=5.001, χ 2=5.879, 24.606, 3.921; all P<0.05]. Compared with non-frailty group, turbulence onset (TO) [-0.05(-0.92, 0.82)% vs. -0.74(-1.58, 0)%; Z=2.616, P=0.009] was significantly higher in frailty group, while turbulence slope (TS) [2.34(1.30, 5.00)ms/RR vs. 4.34(2.66, 6.39)ms/RR; Z=-3.048, P=0.002] was significantly lower. The rate of TO abnormality [49.1% (26/53) vs. 26.3%(20/76), χ 2=7.038, P=0.008] and TS abnormality [34.7%(29/53) vs. 21.0%(16/76); χ 2=15.579, P<0.001] in the frailty group was significantly higher than that in the non-frailty group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that TO abnormality( OR=2.970, P=0.010, 95 %CI:1.300-6.785) and TS abnormality( OR=3.618, P=0.003, 95 %CI:1.565-8.364) were correlated with frailty. Conclusion:Cardiac autonomic nerve function may be impaired in elderly frail patients, and decreased vagal nerve tension may be presented.

Objective:To assess the correlation between frailty and cardiac autonomic nervous system function in elderly patients.Methods:Elderly hospitalized patients aged 65 years and over were enrolled and assessed for frailty by using the clinical frailty scale.Cardiac autonomic modulation was evaluated by heart rate variability analysis through 24 h electrocardiogram recording.Results:A total of 180 elderly patients were enrolled in this study, including 66 patients with frailty and 114 patients without frailty.The mean age of the frailty group was higher than that of the non-frailty group(79.8±6.0 vs.75.0±6.3, t=5.030, P<0.001). The proportions of patients with hypertension, stroke/transient cerebral ischemia attack(TIA), heart failure and osteoarthritis were higher in the frailty group than in the non-frailty group(all P<0.05). Compared with the non-frailty group, the standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals(SDNN)[103.0(76.0, 121.2) vs.107.5(92.0, 136.0), Z=-2.108, P=0.035], the standard deviation of the averages of NN intervals in all 5-min segments(SDANN)[86.0(67.7, 106.5) vs.97.5(78.0, 126.0), Z=-2.694, P=0.007], normalized low frequency(LFnorm)(53.1±13.0 vs.59.3±13.9, t=-3.024, P=0.003)and low frequency/high frequency(LF/HF)ratio[1.2(1.0, 1.4) vs.1.4(1.1, 1.7), Z=-3.041, P=0.002]were decreased and normalized high frequency(HFnorm)(36.8±9.2 vs.32.2±10.7, t=3.033, P=0.003)was increased in the frailty group.HFnorm in the frailty group was significantly higher than that in the non-frailty group.The incidents of SDANN<92 ms, LFnorm<50 nU, HFnorm>32 nU and LF/HF ratio<1.5 were higher in the frailty group than in the non-frailty group(59.1% or 39/66 vs.41.2% or 47/114, 42.4% or 28/66 vs.22.8% or 26/114, 72.7% or 48/66 vs.49.1% or 56/114, 84.8% or 56/66 vs.65.8% or 75/114, χ2=5.346, 7.660, 9.547, 7.664, P=0.021, 0.006, 0.002, 0.006). Logistic multivariate regression analysis showed that LFnorm, HFnorm and LF/HF ratio were correlated with frailty( OR=0.971, 1.039 and 0.333, all P<0.05), and HFnorm>32 nU and LF/HF ratio<1.5 were risk factors for frailty( OR=2.401 and 2.773, both P<0.05). Conclusions:Cardiac autonomic nerve system function is impaired in elderly frail patients, with the imbalance between the sympathetic and vagus nerves.Therefore particular attention should be paid to heart rate variability in elderly patients with frailty.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide(NT-proBNP)levels and frailty in elderly hospitalized patients.Methods:A total of 604 patients aged 65 years or older(with a mean age of 74.9±6.5)admitted to Beijing Hospital from September 2018 to February 2019 were consecutively enrolled in this cross-sectional study.Patients with clinical diagnosis of heart failure or left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)>50% were excluded.Participants were divided into the non-frail(n=130, 21.5%), pre-frail(n=327, 54.1%)and frail(n=147, 24.3%)groups based on the Fried phenotype.Clinical data, laboratory test results and echocardiographic data were collected.Blood levels NT-proBNP were measured.The ability of daily living activities was evaluated.The relationship of NT-proBNP levels with frailty and the diagnostic value of NT-proBNP levels for frailty screening were analyzed.Results:As the severity of frailty increased, elevated NT-proBNP levels were observed( P<0.01). NT-proBNP levels were higher in the frail group than in the pre-frail group [235.7(104.1, 650.3)ng/L vs. 123.2(67.7, 281.7)ng/L, P<0.01] and higher in the pre-frail group than in the non-frail group [123.2(67.7, 281.7)ng/L vs.88.2(49.9, 203.1)ng/L, P<0.01]. With increased severity of frailty, the anterior and posterior diameter of the left atrium increased( P<0.05), while LVEF decreased( P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that NT-proBNP levels were independently associated with frailty( P<0.01). The level of NT-proBNP had a certain diagnostic value for frailty, and the area under the receiver-operating characteristics(ROC)curve was 0.688( P<0.01). Conclusions:The level of NT-proBNP is elevated in elderly frail inpatients, it is an independent factor for frailty.Measuring NT-proBNP levels in frail groups can help clinicians pay attention to patients' cardiac function and give appropriate interventions as early as possible.

Objective:To investigate the factors contributing to in-hospital mortality among elderly patients aged 80 and above with gastrointestinal bleeding(GIB).Additionally, it seeks to assess the predictive ability of the electronic frailty index(eFI)in determining the risk of in-hospital mortality in GIB patients.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed among 624 patients aged 80 and above with GIB who were admitted to Beijing Hospital between July 2013 and September 2019.The patients were categorized into two groups based on their discharge outcomes: those who survived and those who did not.The eFI was developed using a cumulative deficit model utilizing data from the hospital's electronic medical records.The study examined the clinical features and risk factors associated with in-hospital mortality among these elderly patients.The effectiveness of eFI in predicting in-hospital mortality in elderly patients with gastrointestinal bleeding was evaluated by calculating the area under the curve(AUC)of the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.Results:Among a total of 624 patients aged between 80 and 102 years, the average age was(83.0±6.4)years, with 339 being male.A majority of the patients, 581 cases(93.1%), had an eFI ≥ 0.15.A comparison between the survival group(380 cases)and the death group(244 cases)revealed that the latter had higher eFI values(0.39±0.09 vs.0.29±0.11, t=-11.452, P<0.001), along with higher rates of heart failure, chronic kidney disease, and malignant tumors, as well as lower body mass index, hemoglobin, albumin, and total cholesterol levels, and higher alanine aminotransferase and D-dimer levels(all P<0.05).Logistic regression analysis indicated that eFI( OR=2.322, 95% CI: 1.840-2.929, P<0.001), malignant tumor( OR=1.833, 95% CI: 1.141-2.860, P<0.001), and albumin<35 g/L( OR=1.826, 95% CI: 1.200-2.777, P<0.001)were independent risk factors for in-hospital death in elderly patients aged 80 and over with gastrointestinal bleeding.With every 0.1 increase in eFI, the risk of in-hospital death rose by 1.322 times.The AUC of eFI for predicting in-hospital mortality was 0.751(95% CI: 0.713-0.789, P<0.001).An eFI of ≥0.33 demonstrated a sensitivity of 77.9% and a specificity of 60.3% in predicting in-hospital mortality in elderly patients aged 80 and over with GIB. Conclusions:The eFI serves as an important independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality among patients aged 80 and above who experience GIB.It can effectively assess the prognosis of elderly individuals facing GIB.