Patient-Reported Frailty and Functional Status in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction

BACKGROUND The association between frailty and health status in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is not well known. OBJECTIVES The authors examined the association between: 1) patient-reported frailty, measured by the Fried frailty phenotype, Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire Physical Limitation Score (KCCQ-PLS), 6-minute walking distance (6MWD), and other baseline characteristics; 2) baseline frailty compared with KCCQ-PLS and 24-week 6MWD; 3) frailty and changes in KCCQ-PLS and 6MWD; and 4) vericiguat and frailty at 24 weeks. METHODS In a post hoc analysis, patients in the VITALITY-HFpEF (Patient-reported Outcomes in Vericiguat-treated Patients With HFpEF) trial were categorized as not frail (0 symptoms), prefrail (1-2 symptoms), and frail ($3 symptoms) according to patient-reported number of frailty symptoms. Correlations and linear regression models were used to examine the association between frailty and other measures, and between frailty and KCCQ-PLS at baseline with 24-week 6MWD. RESULTS Among 739 patients, 27.3% were not frail, 37.6% were prefrail, and 35.0% were frail at baseline. Frail patients were older, more likely to be women, and less likely to be from Asia. Baseline KCCQ-PLS and 6MWD (mean +/- SD) among not frail, prefrail, and frail patients was 68.2 +/- 23.2, 61.7 +/- 22.6, and 48.4 +/- 23.8 and 328.5 +/- 117.1 m, 310.8 +/- 98.9 m, and 250.7 +/- 104.3 m (P < 0.01 for both). After accounting for baseline 6MWD, frailty status at baseline, but not KCCQ-PLS, was significantly associated with 6MWD at 24 weeks. By 24 weeks, 47.5% of patients had no change in frailty, 45.5% had become less frail, and 7.0% had become more frail. Treatment with vericiguat did not alter frailty status at 24 weeks. CONCLUSIONS Patient-reported frailty is modestly correlated with both the KCCQ-PLS and 6MWD but offers prognostic insight into 6MWD at 24 weeks. (Patient-reported Outcomes in Vericiguat-treated Patients With HFpEF [VITALITY-HFpEF]; NCT03547583) (J Am Coll Cardiol HF 2023;11:392-403) (c) 2023 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation.