ArticleAging clinical and experimental research2022
Frailty but not sarcopenia nor malnutrition increases the risk of developing COVID-19 in older community-dwelling adults.
Article in Aging clinical and experimental research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- The devastating trio of sarcopenia, frailty, and COVID-19 - A systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical nutrition ESPEN · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
- Tracking Sarcopenia and Physical Activities Among Korean Adults Aged 50 Years and Older During COVID-19 Pandemic.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy · 2026Article
- Risk Groups for Vaccine-Preventable Respiratory Infections in Children and Adults: An Overview of the Australian Environment.Vaccines · 2025Review
- Influence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and infection on musculoskeletal function.Scientific reports · 2025Observational
- Association of a Healthy Lifestyle With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality Among Individuals With Probable Sarcopenia: Population-Based Cohort Study.JMIR aging · 2025Article
- Assessing the Impact of Frailty on Infection Risk in Older Adults: Prospective Observational Cohort Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2024Observational
- Association of frailty with influenza and hospitalization due to influenza among independent older adults: a longitudinal study of Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES).BMC geriatrics · 2023Article
- Prevalence and association of frailty with SARS-CoV-2 infection in older adults in Southern Switzerland-Findings from the Corona Immunitas Ticino Study.BMC geriatrics · 2023Article
- Nutritional and physical activity issues in frailty syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic.Therapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease · 2023Review
- Recognizing risk factors associated with poor outcomes among patients with COVID-19.Progress in cardiovascular diseasesReview
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8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe identification of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) risk factors is requested to implement prevention strategies.
aimTo explore the associations between the COVID-19 incidence and malnutrition, sarcopenia, and frailty, identified as potential risk factors in previous cross-sectional studies.
methodsMalnutrition, sarcopenia, and frailty were assessed at the last available follow-up from the Sarcopenia and Physical Impairments with Advancing Age (SarcoPhAge) cohort (i.e., the fifth year that ended in 2019) according to the Mini-Nutritional Assessment short-form, the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2), and the Fried criteria, respectively. Information regarding the COVID-19 was gathered by phone calls interviews in April 2021 to measure its self-declared incidence. Adjusted Cox regressions and Kaplan-Meier curves were performed.
resultsThe present study included 241 participants [median age 75.6 (73.0-80.6) years, 63.1% women]. Among them, 27 participants (11.2%) developed the non-fatal Covid-19. No significant increased risks of COVID-19 were observed in patients with malnutrition [adjusted HR 1.14 (0.26-5.07)] and sarcopenia [adjusted HR 1.25 (0.35-4.42)]. Nevertheless, the incidence of COVID-19 was significantly higher in frail (44.4%) than in robust participants (8.5%) [Adjusted HR 7.01 (2.69-18.25)], which was confirmed by the Kaplan-Meier curves (p < 0.001). Among the frailty syndrome components, a low physical activity level was the only one significantly associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 [adjusted HR 5.18 (1.37-19.54)].
conclusionDespite some limitations in the methodology of this study (i.e., limited sample size, COVID-19 incidence self-reported and not assessed systematically using objective measurements) requiring careful consideration, an increased risk to develop COVID-19 was observed in the presence of the frailty syndrome. Further investigations are needed to elaborate on our findings.
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