Challenges and strategies in the care of older adults across the continuum of intensive and post-intensive care medicine

Intensive Care Medicine | Published: 22 December 2025

Abstract

Older adults have composed more than half of ICU patient-days for the past 25 years, and these numbers are only expected to grow as the worldwide population of older adults doubles by 2050. For older adults, conditions such as frailty, disability in functional activities, and multimorbidity are more strongly associated with ICU and post-ICU outcomes than chronological age, and recent work shows that the prevalence of these conditions among older ICU patients is increasing over time. In response to this demographic shift, the science of aging-focused critical care has rapidly expanded over the past decade, and we now know more about how to care for older ICU patients than ever before. However, challenges in the care of older adults across the continuum of ICU and post-ICU care remain. In this narrative review, we discuss these challenges, propose strategies and future research to address them, and discuss best practices for the care of older ICU patients in the context of the state of the science.

 

Impact of frailty on mortality, functional outcome, and health status after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: insights from the TTM2-trial

Intensive Care Medicine Published: 10 November 2025

Purpose

To explore the association of frailty with mortality, functional outcome, and health status after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Methods

This is a cohort-based secondary analysis of the Targeted Hypothermia versus Targeted Normothermia after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (TTM2) trial, an international, prospective, multicentre study. Frailty was assessed using the Clinical Frailty Scale (1–9): fit (1–3), prefrail (4), frail (5), and severely frail (6–9). Main outcomes were mortality and poor functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale 4–6) at 6 and 24 months. Additional outcomes included neuroprognostication, withdrawal-of-life-sustaining-therapies (WLST), functional decline (retrospectively reported pre-arrest versus 6 month Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended score), health status (EQ-5D-5L, EQ-VAS), and life satisfaction at 6 and 24 months.

Results

Of 1861 participants, 240 (13%) were prefrail, and 188 (10%) were frail or severely frail. Mortality and poor functional outcome increased significantly with greater frailty. Compared to fit participants, adjusted ORs (95% CI) for 6 month mortality were: prefrail 2.7 (1.8–3.8), frail 3.7 (1.9–7.1), and severely frail 8.9 (4.2–18.7); and poor functional outcome: prefrail 2.9 (1.9–4.2), frail 3.9 (1.9–8.1), and severely frail 35.4 (8.4–148.8). Severely frail participants underwent neuroprognostication less often (p < 0.001), while WLST was more common in the prefrail, frail and severely frail (p < 0.001). Prefrail and frail survivors tended to report more frequent functional decline and lower health status, though with individual variation.

Conclusion

Frailty was associated with a significantly increased risk of mortality and poor functional outcome after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Findings suggest more frequent functional decline and lower overall health status in frail survivors.

 

Frailty and Long-Term Survival in Patients With Critical Illness After Nonhome Discharge: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Critical Care Medicine : April 29, 2025.

Importance: 

Patients with frailty are more frequently discharged to rehabilitation or residential aged care facility (RACF), defined as nonhome discharge, than those without frailty. An increase in nonhome discharge is considered to be one of the collateral “costs” associated with declining hospital mortality. However, it is unclear whether this association applies to patients with frailty, particularly in the long term.

Objectives: 

To determine the impact of frailty on long-term survival in patients who had a nonhome discharge following an ICU admission.

Design: 

A retrospective multicenter cohort study.

Setting and Participants: 

All medical patients (≥ 16 yr old) admitted to Australian and Zealand ICUs, with a documented Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and a nonhome discharge from January 1, 2018, to March 31, 2022, were included.

Interventions: 

None.

Measurements and Main Results: 

Primary outcome was survival time up to 4 years. We used Cox proportional hazards regression models with robust sandwich variance estimators to assess the effect of frailty (defined as CFS = 5–8) on survival time after ICU admission between groups. We also analyzed the effect of frailty on long-term survival based on their age and nonhome discharge location. Of the 57,652 patients, 17,383 (30.2%) were frail. Overall 4-year survival was lower in patients with frailty than those without (32.5% vs. 64.3%; p < 0.001). Frailty was associated with shorter survival times (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.50; 95% CI, 1.43–1.57). Frailty was associated with a greater reduction in survival in patients younger than 65 years old (aHR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.59–1.88), 65–80 years (aHR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.38–1.57), or older than 80 years (aHR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.26–1.45). Frailty was associated with greater reduction in survival in those discharged to rehabilitation (aHR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.39–1.65) or acute hospitals (aHR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.48–1.65) than those discharged to RACF (aHR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83–1.06).

Conclusions: 

Frailty was independently associated with shorter time to death following a nonhome discharge after an ICU admission.

Relevance: 

There was an independent association between patients with frailty admitted to ICU and had a nonhome discharge with the shorter time to death than those without frailty.

 

 

 

Impact of frailty and older age on weaning from invasive ventilation: a secondary analysis of the WEAN SAFE study

Annals of Intensive Care volume 15, Article number: 13 (2025)

Published: 20 January 2025

Objective

To understand the impact of both frailty and chronologic age on outcomes of weaning from invasive mechanical ventilation (MV).

Methods

The study population consisted of patients enrolled in the ‘WorldwidE. AssessmeNt of Separation of pAtients From ventilatory assistancE (WEAN SAFE) study. We defined 4 non-overlapping groups, namely: ‘frail’ (clinical frailty scale [CFS] score > 4; age < 80 years); ‘elderly’ (CFS ≤ 4; age ≥ 80y), ‘frail \elderly’ (CFS > 4; age ≥ 80 years), and a ‘not frail or elderly’ population. The primary outcome was the impact of frailty and older age on delayed weaning and failed weaning from invasive MV. Secondary outcomes included the impact of frailty and age on ICU and hospital survival.

Results

In the study population, 760 (17%) were frail, while 360 (8%) were elderly, 197 (4%) were frail and elderly, while 3,176 (70%) were not frail or elderly. The frail and elderly cohorts were more likely to be female, had hypoxemic/hypercapnic respiratory failure or sepsis, and had more comorbidities. The proportion of delayed weaning and of failed weaning from invasive MV was significantly higher in the frail (28 and 23%), the elderly (25 and 19%), and the frail and elderly groups (22% and 25%), compared to the not frail or elderly population (12% and 13%, P < 0.01). ICU and hospital mortality was higher in the frail (21 and 33%), the elderly (19 and 31%), and the frail and elderly groups (26 and 46%), compared to the not frail or elderly population (12% and 18%, P < 0.001). In multivariate analyses, there was an independent association between frailty and delayed weaning initiation and weaning failure. Old age was independently associated with risk of weaning failure.

Conclusions

Frailty status had a more consistent impact than older age on weaning outcomes. However, overall outcomes in these cohorts are encouraging once separation attempts have been initiated.

 

 

Long-stay ICU patients with frailty: mortality and recovery outcomes at 6 months

 

by Hannah Wozniak, Tal Sarah Beckmann, Andre Dos Santos Rocha, Jérôme Pugin, Claudia-Paula Heidegger and Sara Cereghetti 

 

Annals of Intensive Care volume 14, Article number: 31 (2024) Published: 24 February 2024

 

Background

Prolonged intensive care unit (ICU) stay is associated with physical, cognitive, and psychological disabilities. The impact of baseline frailty on long-stay ICU patients remains uncertain. This study aims to investigate how baseline frailty influences mortality and post-ICU disability 6 months after critical illness in long-stay ICU patients.

Methods

In this retrospective cohort study, we assessed patients hospitalized for ≥ 7 days in the ICU between May 2018 and May 2021, following them for up to 6 months or until death. Based on the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) at ICU admissions, patients were categorized as frail (CFS ≥ 5), pre-frail (CFS 3–4) and non-frail (CFS 1–2). Kaplan–Meier curves and a multivariate Cox model were used to examine the association between frailty and mortality. At the 6 month follow-up, we assessed psychological, physical, cognitive outcomes, and health-related quality of life (QoL) using descriptive statistics and linear regressions.

Results

We enrolled 531 patients, of which 178 (33.6%) were frail, 200 (37.6%) pre-frail and 153 (28.8%) non-frail. Frail patients were older, had more comorbidities, and greater disease severity at ICU admission. At 6 months, frail patients presented higher mortality rates than pre-frail and non-frail patients (34.3% (61/178) vs. 21% (42/200) vs. 13.1% (20/153) respectively, p < 0.01). The rate of withdrawing or withholding of care did not differ significantly between the groups. Compared with CFS 1–2, the adjusted hazard ratios of death at 6 months were 1.7 (95% CI 0.9–2.9) for CFS 3–4 and 2.9 (95% CI 1.7–4.9) for CFS ≥ 5. At 6 months, 192 patients were seen at a follow-up consultation. In multivariate linear regressions, CFS ≥ 5 was associated with poorer physical health-related QoL, but not with poorer mental health-related QoL, compared with CFS 1–2.

Conclusion

Frailty is associated with increased mortality and poorer physical health-related QoL in long-stay ICU patients at 6 months. The admission CFS can help inform patients and families about the complexities of survivorship during a prolonged ICU stay.

 

Frailty is a stronger predictor of death in younger intensive care patients than in older patients: a prospective observational study

 

by Lina De Geer, Mats Fredrikson and Michelle S. Chew 

 

Annals of Intensive Care volume 12, Article number: 120 (2022) 

 

Background

While frailty is a known predictor of adverse outcomes in older patients, its effect in younger populations is unknown. This prospective observational study was conducted in a tertiary-level mixed ICU to assess the impact of frailty on long-term survival in intensive care patients of different ages.

Methods

Data on premorbid frailty (Clinical Frailty Score; CFS), severity of illness (the Simplified Acute Physiology Score, third version; SAPS3), limitations of care and outcome were collected in 817 adult ICU patients. Hazard ratios (HR) for death within 180 days after ICU admission were calculated. Unadjusted and adjusted analyses were used to evaluate the association of frailty with outcome in different age groups.

Results

Patients were classified into predefined age groups (18–49 years (n = 241), 50–64 (n = 188), 65–79 (n = 311) and 80 years or older (n = 77)). The proportion of frail (CFS ≥ 5) patients was 41% (n = 333) in the overall population and increased with each age strata (n = 46 (19%) vs. n = 67 (36%) vs. n = 174 (56%) vs. n = 46 (60%), P < 0.05). Frail patients had higher SAPS3, more treatment restrictions and higher ICU mortality. Frailty was associated with an increased risk of 180-day mortality in all age groups (HR 5.7 (95% CI 2.8–11.4), P < 0.05; 8.0 (4.0–16.2), P < 0.05; 4.1 (2.2–6.6), P < 0.05; 2.4 (1.1–5.0), P = 0.02). The effect remained significant after adjustment for SAPS3, comorbidity and limitations of treatment only in patients aged 50–64 (2.1 (1.1–3.1), P < 0.05).

Conclusions

Premorbid frailty is common in ICU patients of all ages and was found in 55% of patients aged under 64 years. Frailty was independently associated with mortality only among middle-aged patients, where the risk of death was increased twofold. Our study supports the use of frailty assessment in identifying younger ICU patients at a higher risk of death.

 

 

 

Critical Care Bulletin - November 2022

 

Association between frailty, delirium, and mortality in older critically ill patients: a binational registry study

 

by Berhe W. Sahle, David Pilcher, Edward Litton, Richard Ofori-Asenso, Karlheinz Peter, James McFadyen and Tracey Bucknall 

 

Annals of Intensive Care volume 12, Article number: 108 (2022)

 

Background

Frailty and delirium are prevalent among older adults admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and associated with adverse outcomes; however, their relationships have not been extensively explored. This study examined the association between frailty and mortality and length of hospital stay (LOS) in ICU patients, and whether the associations are mediated or modified by an episode of delirium.

Methods

Retrospective analysis of data from the Australian New Zealand Intensive Care Society Adult Patient Database. A total of 149,320 patients aged 65 years or older admitted to 203 participating ICUs between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2020 who had data for frailty and delirium were included in the analysis.

Results

A total of 41,719 (27.9%) older ICU patients were frail on admission, and 9,179 patients (6.1%) developed delirium during ICU admission. Frail patients had significantly higher odds of in-hospital mortality (OR: 2.15, 95% CI 2.05–2.25), episodes of delirium (OR: 1.86, 95% CI 1.77–1.95), and longer LOS (log-transformed mean difference (MD): 0.24, 95% CI 0.23–0.25). Acute delirium was associated with 32% increased odds of in-hospital mortality (OR: 1.32, 95% CI 1.23–1.43) and longer LOS (MD: 0.54, 95% CI 0.50–0.54). The odds ratios (95% CI) for in-hospital mortality were 1.37 (1.23–1.52), 2.14 (2.04–2.24) and 2.77 (2.51–3.05) for non-frail who developed delirium, frail without delirium, and frail and developed delirium during ICU admission, respectively. There was very small but statistically significant effect of frailty on in-hospital mortality (b for indirect effect: 0.00037, P < 0.001) and LOS (b for indirect effect: 0.019, P < 0.001) mediated through delirium.

Conclusion

Both frailty and delirium independently increase the risk of in-hospital mortality and LOS. Acute delirium is more common in frail patients; however, it does not mediate or modify a clinically meaningful amount of the association between frailty and in-hospital mortality and LOS.

 

Impact of frailty on persistent critical illness: a population-based cohort study

Intensive Care Medicine: Published: 04 February 2022

 

Purpose

Acute illness severity predicts mortality in intensive care unit (ICU) patients, however, its predictive value decreases over time in ICU. Typically after 10 days, pre-ICU (antecedent) characteristics become more predictive of mortality, defining the onset of persistent critical illness (PerCI). How patient frailty affects development and death from PerCI is unknown.

Methods

We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a prospective binational cohort study including 269,785 critically ill adults from 168 ICUs in Australia and New Zealand, investigating whether frailty measured with the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) changes the timing of onset and risk of developing PerCI and of subsequent in-hospital mortality. We assessed associations between frailty (CFS ≥ 5) and mortality prediction using logistic regression and area under the receiver operating characteristics (AUROC) curves.

Results

2190 of 50,814 (4.3%) patients with frailty (CFS ≥ 5) versus 6624 of 218,971 (3%) patients without frailty (CFS ≤ 4) developed PerCI (P < 0.001). Among patients with PerCI, 669 of 2190 (30.5%) with frailty and 1194 of 6624 without frailty (18%) died in hospital (P < 0.001). The time point defining PerCI onset did not vary with frailty degree; however, with increasing length of ICU stay, inclusion of frailty progressively improved mortality discrimination (0.1% AUROC improvement on ICU day one versus 3.6% on ICU day 17).

Conclusion

Compared to patients without frailty, those with frailty have a higher chance of developing and dying from PerCI. Moreover the importance of frailty as a predictor of mortality increases with ICU length of stay. Future work should explore incorporation of frailty in prognostic models, particularly for long-staying patients.

 

The impact of frailty on survival in elderly intensive care patients with COVID-19: the COVIP study

 

The impact of frailty on survival in elderly intensive care patients with COVID-19: the COVIP study

by Christian Jung, Hans Flaatten, Jesper Fjølner, Raphael Romano Bruno, Bernhard Wernly, Antonio Artigas, Bernardo Bollen Pinto, Joerg C. Schefold, Georg Wolff, Malte Kelm, Michael Beil, Sigal Sviri, Peter Vernon van Heerden, Wojciech Szczeklik, Miroslaw Czuczwar, Muhammed Elhadi… 

Critical Care volume 25, Article number: 149 (2021) 

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has led highly developed healthcare systems to the brink of collapse due to the large numbers of patients being admitted into hospitals. One of the potential prognostic indicators in patients with COVID-19 is frailty. The degree of frailty could be used to assist both the triage into intensive care, and decisions regarding treatment limitations. Our study sought to determine the interaction of frailty and age in elderly COVID-19 ICU patients.

Methods

A prospective multicentre study of COVID-19 patients ≥ 70 years admitted to intensive care in 138 ICUs from 28 countries was conducted. The primary endpoint was 30-day mortality. Frailty was assessed using the clinical frailty scale. Additionally, comorbidities, management strategies and treatment limitations were recorded.

Results

The study included 1346 patients (28% female) with a median age of 75 years (IQR 72–78, range 70–96), 16.3% were older than 80 years, and 21% of the patients were frail. The overall survival at 30 days was 59% (95% CI 56–62), with 66% (63–69) in fit, 53% (47–61) in vulnerable and 41% (35–47) in frail patients (p < 0.001). In frail patients, there was no difference in 30-day survival between different age categories. Frailty was linked to an increased use of treatment limitations and less use of mechanical ventilation. In a model controlling for age, disease severity, sex, treatment limitations and comorbidities, frailty was independently associated with lower survival.

Conclusion

Frailty provides relevant prognostic information in elderly COVID-19 patients in addition to age and comorbidities.

Frailty, delirium and hospital mortality of older adults admitted to intensive care: the Delirium (Deli) in ICU study

Frailty, delirium and hospital mortality of older adults admitted to intensive care: the Delirium (Deli) in ICU study

 

by David Sanchez, Kathleen Brennan, Masar Al Sayfe, Sharon-Ann Shunker, Tony Bogdanoski, Sonja Hedges, Yu Chin Hou, Joan Lynch, Leanne Hunt, Evan Alexandrou, Manoj Saxena, Simon Abel, Ramanathan Lakshmanan, Deepak Bhonagiri, Michael J. Parr, Anders Aneman…

 

Critical Care volume 24, Article number: 609 (2020)  Published: 15 October 2020

 

 

Background

Clinical frailty among older adults admitted to intensive care has been proposed as an important determinant of patient outcomes. Among this group of patients, an acute episode of delirium is also common, but its relationship to frailty and increased risk of mortality has not been extensively explored. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the relationship between clinical frailty, delirium and hospital mortality of older adults admitted to intensive care.

Methods

This study is part of a Delirium in Intensive Care (Deli) Study. During the initial 6-month baseline period, clinical frailty status on admission to intensive care, among adults aged 50 years or more; acute episodes of delirium; and the outcomes of intensive care and hospital stay were explored.

Results

During the 6-month baseline period, 997 patients, aged 50 years or more, were included in this study. The average age was 71 years (IQR, 63–79); 55% were male (n = 537). Among these patients, 39.2% (95% CI 36.1–42.3%, n = 396) had a Clinical Frailty Score (CFS) of 5 or more, and 13.0% (n = 127) had at least one acute episode of delirium. Frail patients were at greater risk of an episode of delirium (17% versus 10%, adjusted rate ratio (adjRR) = 1.71, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20–2.43, p = 0.003), had a longer hospital stay (2.6 days, 95% CI 1–7 days, p = 0.009) and had a higher risk of hospital mortality (19% versus 7%, adjRR = 2.54, 95% CI 1.72–3.75, p < 0.001), when compared to non-frail patients. Patients who were frail and experienced an acute episode of delirium in the intensive care had a 35% rate of hospital mortality versus 10% among non-frail patients who also experienced delirium in the ICU.

Conclusion

Frailty and delirium significantly increase the risk of hospital mortality. Therefore, it is important to identify patients who are frail and institute measures to reduce the risk of adverse events in the ICU such as delirium and, importantly, to discuss these issues in an open and empathetic way with the patient and their families.

The hospital frailty risk score is of limited value in intensive care unit patients

The hospital frailty risk score is of limited value in intensive care unit patients

by Raphael Romano Bruno, Bernhard Wernly, Hans Flaatten, Fabian Schölzel, Malte Kelm and Christian Jung 

The identification of patients with frailty is of utmost importance, in particular during intensive care treatment of very old intensive care patients (VOPs). It is quite obvious that tools for this triage process should differ from younger patients. Frailty—not necessarily age—is associated with a negative impact on outcome, especially in critically ill patients [1]. This problem is of great importance as VOPs are one of the fastest growing subgroups in intensive care medicine. We expect an increase in the proportion of the world population older than 60 years from 12% in 2013 to 21% in 2050 [2]…

Long-term association between frailty and health-related quality of life amongst survivors of critical illness

Long-term association between frailty and health-related quality of life among survivors of critical illness: A prospective multi-center cohort study. Critical Care Medicine, May 2015, Vol. 34(5), p.973-82.

Bagshaw, S.M., et al.

http://journals.lww.com/ccmjournal/Abstract/2015/05000/Long_Term_Association_Between_Frailty_and.7.aspx

Frailty is a multidimensional syndrome characterized by loss of physiologic reserve that gives rise to vulnerability to poor outcomes. We aimed to examine the association between frailty and long-term health-related quality of life among survivors of critical illness.