Predicting CPR Outcomes in Older Patients Based on Frailty

Studies suggest that age might not predict survival of inpatients with cardiac arrest as well as functional measures do. In a retrospective cohort study, investigators applied the clinical frailty scale (CFS) — a simple tool used at the bedside that attributes a frailty score (on a 9-point scale, based on the patient's preexisting level of function) — to 90 older patients (age, ≥60; median age, 77) who received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for inpatient cardiac arrest at a tertiary care hospital in England. Overall, 14% of patients survived inpatient cardiac arrest and were discharged.

After adjustment for age, comorbidities, and initial arrest rhythm, frail patients (i.e., CFS >4), who made up about half of the cohort, had significan…