Association of multidimensional frailty and quality of life in middle‐aged and older people with stroke: A cross‐sectional study

Abstract Objectives The aims of this study were to (i) compare the prevalence of multidimensional frailty in middle‐aged and older people with stroke and to (ii) explore the relationship between multidimensional frailty and quality of life (QoL) in this patient population. Background In recent years, stroke patients have become increasingly younger. As an important risk factor for stroke patients, frailty has gradually drawn research attention because of its multidimensional nature. Design This study used a cross‐sectional design. Methods The study included 234 stroke patients aged 45 and older. Multidimensional frailty was defined as a holistic condition in which a person experiences losses in one or more domains of human functioning (physical, psychological and social) based on the Tilburg Frailty Indicator, and QoL was based on the short version of the Stroke‐Specific Quality of Life Scale. Hierarchical regression was used to analyse the correlation factors of QoL. STROBE checklist guides the reporting of the manuscript. Results A total of 128 (54.7%) participants had multidimensional frailty, 48 (44.5%) were middle aged and 80 (63.5%) were older adults. The overall QoL mean score of the participants was 47.86 ± 9.04. Multidimensional frailty was negatively correlated with QoL. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that multidimensional frailty could independently explain 14.6% of the variation in QoL in stroke patients. Conclusions Multidimensional frailty was prevalent in middle‐aged and older people with stroke, and it was a significant factor associated with QoL in stroke patients. Relevance to Clinical Practice This study emphasises the importance of the early identification of multidimensional frailty. And targeted interventions should be studied to prevent the occurrence of multidimensional frailty and thereby improve the QoL of patients. Patient or Public Contribution/s There are no patient or public contributions to this study.