Individual frailty phenotype components and mortality in adults with type 2 diabetes: A UK Biobank study

Aims: This study aimed to explore associations between frailty components and mortality and rank prognostic relevance of each frailty component in predicting mortality in adults with and without type 2 diabetes (T2D). Methods: We used data from the UK Biobank. Associations and prognostic discrimination of individual Fried's frailty components and the overall frailty status with all-cause and cardiovascular (CVD) mortality were investigated using Cox proportional-hazard models and C-index in adults with and without T2D. Results: In both populations the strongest association with all-cause mortality across all frailty components and overall frailty status was observed for slow walking pace (without T2D Hazard Ratio [HR] 2.25, 95 %CI: 2.12–2.38 and with T2D HR 1.95, 95 %CI: 1.67–2.28). Similarly, slow walking pace was associated with a greater risk of CVD mortality. The combination of T2D and slow walking pace had the strongest association with all-cause and CVD mortality, compared to the combination of T2D and other frailty components or overall frailty status. Slow walking pace also provided the greatest prognostic discrimination. Conclusion: Slow walking pace has a stronger predictive factor for all-cause and CVD mortality compared to other frailty components and overall frailty status, especially when simultaneously present with T2D.