Status and influencing factors of frailty in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

ObjectiveTo explore the frailty status of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and analyze its influencing factors.

MethodsA convenience sampling method was performed to select 203 patients with SLE as the research subjects.The general data questionnaire, Chinese version of Tilburg frailty scale, Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) and Barthel index were used to investigate the research subjects.

ResultsThe frailty score of patients with SLE was 7 (7, 10) points, the morbidity of frailty was 73.9%.The Charlson comorbidity index score was above 2 points in 56.2%.The Barthel index score was (90.05±15.64) points.Spearman correlation analysis showed that the frailty was positively correlated with polypharmacy (r_s=0.215), CCI (r_s=0.485) (P < 0.05), and negatively correlated with self-care ability (r_s=-0.538, P < 0.01).The results of the multiple linear regression analysis showed that increased age, high CCI scores, low BI scores and polypharmacy might be independent risk factors for high frailty scores in patients with SLE (P < 0.05 to P < 0.01).

ConclusionsThe incidence of frailty in SLE patients is high.Medical staff should identify frailty early, formulate and implement individualized intervention measures to reduce its incidence.