ESOC 2021 | Frailty and stroke

Terence Quinn, MD, MRCP, MBCHB (hons), University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK, discusses the relationship between frailty and stroke. Frailty is a state of increased vulnerability, often experienced by older people, where their capacity to cope with everyday or acute external stressors is compromised. Therefore, frailty increases the risk for poor outcomes following stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA). Data from an ongoing meta-analysis looking at the prevalence of frailty in stroke has demonstrated that as many as 25% of patients coming to a stroke unit have frailty. Additionally, patients with frailty demonstrated poorer outcomes than non-frail adults. Dr Quinn highlights the importance of assessing frailty in stroke, which may have treatment implications, and the need for improved collection and sharing of frailty data in clinical trials. This interview took place at the European Stroke Organisation Conference (ESOC), 2021.