Resilience, frailty and outcomes in geriatric rehabilitation

Objective: To assess relationships between resilience, frailty and outcomes in geriatric rehabilitation inpatients.

Methods: Eighty-nine inpatients had Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) and frailty index (FI-CGA) completed. Pearson's or Spearman's correlation was used to determine correlation between BRS, FI-CGA and covariates. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine associations between resilience, frailty and covariates with functional independence measure gain, length of stay (LOS) > 21 days, mortality and discharge care requirements.

Results: There was a negative correlation between BRS and premorbid FI-CGA (r = -0.31, P = 0.03) and admission FI-CGA (r = -0.26, P = 0.01) and between BRS and Mini-Mental State Examination score (rho = -0.26, P = 0.02). BRS was not associated with observed outcomes. Premorbid FI-CGA was associated with inpatient mortality, and greater increase in FI-CGA during acute stay was associated with greater LOS. All patients who died were frail (FI-CGA > 0.25).

Conclusion: Resilience and frailty were inversely related. Frailty was an independent predictor of rehabilitation LOS and mortality.