Faculty Bibliography

BACKGROUND:Frailty has been recognized as an important medical syndrome in older adults. Growing literature supports the clinical application of frailty but US older adults' perceptions of frailty have not been explored. We aim to examine perceptions and informational needs about frailty among older adults. METHODS:This was a qualitative study involving focus groups of community-dwelling older adults with diverse age and frailty status. We explored participants' beliefs and knowledge about frailty and informational needs about frailty as a medical syndrome. RESULTS:The participants' mean age was 76.3. Of the 29 participants, 21 (72%) were female, and 21 (72%) were white. We identified three major themes: 1) Older adults' perceptions of frailty differed from the definition used in medical literature; they often perceived a psychological component to being frailty and some were skeptical of the syndromic definition based on multiple symptoms. 2) Compared to participants who were non-frail or pre-frail, participants who were frail were more receptive to discussing their frailty status with clinicians; 3) Participants wanted know about how to treat or prevent frailty and the risks associated with being frail. Many participants felt that these information can be conveyed without necessarily using the specific term "frail", which they perceived to have a negative connotation. CONCLUSIONS:Older adults, especially those who are frail, may be interested to discuss frailty as a medical syndrome. However, negative perceptions are associated with the term "frail" and may be a barrier to clinical application of frailty. Further research is needed to understand acceptable ways for communicating about frailty in clinical practice.

BACKGROUND:Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) reflects a patient's disease burden, treatment effectiveness, and health status and is summarized by physical, mental, and kidney disease-specific scales among end-stage renal disease patients. Although on average HRQOL improves postkidney transplant (KT), the degree of change depends on the ability of the patient to withstand the stressor of dialysis versus the ability to tolerate the intense physiologic changes of KT. Frail KT recipients may be extra vulnerable to either of these stressors, thus affecting change in HRQOL after KT. METHODS:We ascertained frailty, as well as physical, mental, and kidney disease-specific HRQOL in a multicenter prospective cohort of 443 KT recipients (May 2014 to May 2017) using Kidney Disease Quality of Life Instrument Short Form. We quantified the short-term (3 months) rate of post-KT HRQOL change by frailty status using adjusted mixed-effects linear regression models. RESULTS:Mean HRQOL scores at KT were 43.3 (SD, 9.6) for physical, 52.8 (SD, 8.9) for mental, and 72.6 (SD, 12.8) for kidney disease-specific HRQOL; frail recipients had worse physical (P < 0.001) and kidney disease-specific HRQOL (P = 0.001), but similar mental HRQOL (P = 0.43). Frail recipients experienced significantly greater rates of improvement in physical HRQOL (frail, 1.35 points/month; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.65-2.05; nonfrail, 0.34 points/month; 95% CI, -0.17-0.85; P = 0.02) and kidney disease-specific HRQOL (frail, 3.75 points/month; 95% CI, 2.89-4.60; nonfrail, 2.41 points/month; 95% CI, 1.78-3.04; P = 0.01), but no difference in mental HRQOL (frail, 0.54 points/month; 95% CI, -0.17-1.25; nonfrail, 0.46 points/month; 95% CI, -0.06-0.98; P = 0.85) post-KT. CONCLUSIONS:Despite decreased physiologic reserve, frail recipients experience improvement in post-KT physical and kidney disease-specific HRQOL better than nonfrail recipients.

To assess factors that influence the choice of induction regimen in contemporary kidney transplantation, we examined center-identified, national transplant registry data for 166 776 US recipients (2005-2014). Bilevel hierarchical models were constructed, wherein use of each regimen was compared pairwise with use of interleukin-2 receptor blocking antibodies (IL2rAb). Overall, 82% of patients received induction, including thymoglobulin (TMG, 46%), IL2rAb (22%), alemtuzumab (ALEM, 13%), and other agents (1%). However, proportions of patients receiving induction varied widely across centers (0-100%). Recipients of living donor transplants and self-pay patients were less likely to receive induction treatment. Clinical factors associated with use of TMG or ALEM (vs. IL2rAb) included age, black race, sensitization, retransplant status, nonstandard deceased donor, and delayed graft function. However, these characteristics explained only 10-33% of observed variation. Based on intraclass correlation analysis, "center effect" explained most of the variation in TMG (58%), ALEM (66%), other (51%), and no induction (58%) use. Median odds ratios generated from case-factor adjusted models (7.66-11.19) also supported large differences in the likelihood of induction choices between centers. The wide variation in induction therapy choice across US transplant centers is not dominantly explained by differences in patient or donor characteristics; rather, it reflects center choice and practice.

BACKGROUND:The Fried frailty phenotype, a measure of physiologic reserve defined by 5 components (exhaustion, unintentional weight loss, low physical activity, slow walking speed, and poor grip strength), is associated with poor outcomes among ESRD patients. However, these 5 components may not fully capture physiologic reserve in this population. We aimed to ascertain opinions of ESRD clinicians and patients about the usefulness of the Fried frailty phenotype and interventions to improve frailty in ESRD patients, and to identify novel components to further characterize frailty in ESRD. METHODS:Clinicians who treat adults with ESRD completed a 2-round Delphi study (n = 41 and n = 36, respectively; response rate = 87%). ESRD patients completed a survey at transplant evaluation (n = 460; response rate = 81%). We compared clinician and patient opinions on the constituent components of frailty. RESULTS:Clinicians were more likely than patients to say that ESRD makes patients frail (97.6% vs. 60.2%). There was consensus among clinicians that exhaustion, low physical activity, slow walking speed, and poor grip strength characterize frailty in ESRD patients; however, 29% of clinicians thought weight loss was not relevant. Patients were less likely than clinicians to say that the 5 Fried frailty components were relevant. Clinicians identified 10 new ESRD-specific potential components including falls (64%), physical decline (61%), and cognitive impairment (39%). Clinicians (83%) and patients (80%) agreed that intradialytic foot-peddlers might make ESRD patients less frail. CONCLUSIONS:There was consensus among clinicians and moderate consensus among patients that frailty is more common in ESRD. Weight loss was not seen as relevant, but new components were identified. These findings are first steps in refining the frailty phenotype and identifying interventions to improve physiologic reserve specific to ESRD patients.

Introduction:Cognitive decline is common and increases mortality risk in hemodialysis patients. Intradialytic interventions like cognitive training (CT) and exercise training (ET) may preserve cognitive function. Methods:values were generated from linear regression. Results: = 0.16) for ET. Conclusion:Preliminary findings of our pilot study suggested that cognitive decline in psychomotor speed and executive function is possibly prevented by intradialytic CT and ET. These preliminary pilot findings should be replicated.

Prediction models for post-kidney transplantation mortality have had limited success (C-statistics ≤0.70). Adding objective measures of potentially modifiable factors may improve prediction and, consequently, kidney transplant (KT) survival through intervention. The Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) is an easily administered objective test of lower extremity function consisting of three parts (balance, walking speed, chair stands), each with scores of 0-4, for a composite score of 0-12, with higher scores indicating better function. SPPB performance and frailty (Fried frailty phenotype) were assessed at admission for KT in a prospective cohort of 719 KT recipients at Johns Hopkins Hospital (8/2009 to 6/2016) and University of Michigan (2/2013 to 12/2016). The independent associations between SPPB impairment (SPPB composite score ≤10) and composite score with post-KT mortality were tested using adjusted competing risks models treating graft failure as a competing risk. The 5-year posttransplantation mortality for impaired recipients was 20.6% compared to 4.5% for unimpaired recipients (p < 0.001). Impaired recipients had a 2.30-fold (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 2.30, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.12-4.74, p = 0.02) increased risk of postkidney transplantation mortality compared to unimpaired recipients. Each one-point decrease in SPPB score was independently associated with a 1.19-fold (95% CI 1.09-1.30, p < 0.001) higher risk of post-KT mortality. SPPB-derived lower extremity function is a potentially highly useful and modifiable objective measure for pre-KT risk prediction.

BACKGROUND:Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) reflects a patient's perceived disease burden, treatment effectiveness, and health status. Given the time burden and physiologic effects of hemodialysis, patients who spend dialysis time (9-15 h/week) physically or intellectually engaged may have better HRQOL. We characterized the intradialytic activities and explored their association with HRQOL. METHODS:In a cross-sectional study of 431 hemodialysis patients, we ascertained kidney-disease-specific quality of life, measured frailty, and surveyed participants about their usual active intradialytic activities (reading, playing games, doing puzzles, chatting, or other) and passive intradialytic activities (watching TV or sleeping). We used adjusted ordered logistic regression to identify correlates of the activity index (the sum of active intradialytic activities) and adjusted linear regression to quantify the association between the activity index and physical-, mental-, and kidney-disease-specific HRQOL. RESULTS:The 2 most common intradialytic activities were passive activities (watching TV = 87.9%; sleeping = 72.4%). Participants who were female (aOR 1.85, 95% CI 1.28-2.66; p = 0.001), nonfrail (aOR 1.70, 95% CI 1.06-2.70; p = 0.03), and nonsmokers (aOR 2.61, 95% CI 1.39-4.90; p = 0.003) had a higher intradialytic activity index after adjustment. Higher intradialytic activity index was associated with better mental- (0.83 points, 95% CI 0.04-1.62; p = 0.04) and kidney-disease-specific HRQOL (1.70 points, 95% CI 0.47-2.93; p = 0.007), but not physical HRQOL. CONCLUSIONS:Hemodialysis patients with more active intradialytic activities report better mental and kidney-disease-specific HRQOL. These results should be confirmed in a prospective study with a broader cohort of hemodialysis patients. Dialysis providers may consider offering patients with low levels of activity additional support and opportunities to engage in beneficial intradialytic activities.

BACKGROUND:Up to 31% of kidney transplant (KT) recipients experience early hospital readmission (EHR). We hypothesized that EHR among older KT recipients is higher than younger recipients due to increased comorbidities and higher prevalence of frailty. METHODS:We identified 22,458 older (age ≥65) and 86,372 younger (18 to < 65) first-time KT recipients (December 1, 1999 - December 31, 2014) using United States Renal Data System data. We estimated the association between patient-level characteristics and EHR (30 days post-KT discharge) with modified Poisson regression among older and younger KT recipients, separately. We estimated the association between graft loss and mortality and EHR using Cox proportional hazards. RESULTS:EHR was more common in older KT recipients (30.1 vs. 27.6%; p < 0.001). Risk factors for EHR that differed by recipient age included female sex, African American race, diabetes, smoking, dialysis vintage, donor age, and length of stay. Risk of graft loss associated with EHR was greater among older KT recipients (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.64, 95% CI 1.51-1.77, p < 0.001) than younger KT recipients (aHR 1.43, 95% CI 1.38-1.48, p < 0.001; interaction p < 0.01). However, the risk of mortality associated with EHR was greater among younger recipients (aHR 1.52, 95% CI 1.47-1.57, p < 0.001) than that in older -recipients (aHR 1.40, 95% CI 1.34-1.47, p < 0.001; interaction p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS:Older KT recipients are more likely to experience EHR and are at a higher risk of graft loss after EHR than younger recipients. Targeted interventions to prevent EHR and subsequent graft loss in this population should be identified.