Determining the connection between frailty level and fall risk in i̇ndividuals aged 65 and over with heart failure

This descriptive, cross-sectional, and correlation-seeking study aimed to determine the relationship between the frailty level and fall risk of patients aged 65 and over with a diagnosis of heart failure. The research population consisted of 1200 patients aged 65 and over who were followed up with a diagnosis of heart failure in the last year at Karadeniz Technical University Application and Research Center Farabi Hospital Cardiology Service in the last year, and the sample consisted of 312 patients. The data of the study was collected face to face by the researcher in the Cardiology Service of the hospital between 15 February 2023 and 20 February 2024, using the "Patient Introduction Form", "FRAIL Scale" and "Itaki Fall Risk Scale". Number, percentage, mean, median, standard deviation, Shapiro-Wilk, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Kruskall Wallis, Mann Whitney U, and Chi Square test, multiple regression model were used to evaluate the data. In the study, it was determined that 9.9% of patients aged 65 and over with heart failure were "Nonfrail", 54.5% were "Prefrail" and 35.6% were "Frail" according to the FRAIL Scale. It was determined that older patients, female, had chronic diseases used more medications, had low ejection fraction, and experienced edema and dyspnea symptoms were more vulnerable. Demographic characteristics such as age, gender, education level, activity of daily living, body mass index, chronic disease, and number of medications were predictors of frailty. It was found that 40.7% of the patients had a fall in the last year and 26.3% in the last month. It was determined that the Itaki Fall Risk Scale total score average of patients aged 65 and over with heart failure was 9.45±4.46 (moderate), and 83.7% of the patients had a high risk of falling. It was determined that the risk of falling increased as the patients, chronic diseases, and the number of medications used increased. Age, number of drugs, number of chronic diseases, fatigue, education level, and the number of falls in the last year were moderate (45.6%) predictors of the risk of falling. It was determined that there was a statistically significant relationship between the patients' Itaki Fall Risk and FRAIL Scale scores (p<0.05). It was found that all (100%) of the patients who were frail according to the FRAIL Scale had a high risk of falling according to the Itaki Fall Risk.