Multimodal Assessment of Frailty in Acute Stroke Patients Treated at a Certified Stroke-unit

Stroke is one of the most common causes of disability and mortality worldwide. A recognized complication in stroke patients is frailty, which is associated with increased costs, poorer prognosis, and higher mortality rates. However, there is currently no uniform definition or diagnostic criteria for frailty in stroke patients, and there is a need for standardized frailty assessments in this patient population.

The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of frailty in stroke patients at the Stroke Unit of the University Hospital Giessen and to analyze the associated characteristics and impacts on clinical outcomes. A multimodal frailty assessment will be conducted to capture a wide range of frailty features and investigate their significance. The study includes all stroke patients admitted to the certified stroke- unit of the University Hospital Giessen within a 3-month period. There are no inclusion criteria related to age, gender, or type of stroke.

The multimodal frailty assessment encompasses determining appropriate blood values (e.g., CRP, albumin), assessing muscle strength/mass through handheld dynamometry and sonographic muscle diameter, utilizing scores like the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and the Groningen Frailty Indicator (GFI), evaluating nutritional status (BMI), collecting image-based frailty data (e.g., sarcopenia, cerebral white matter lesions, lacunar strokes, brain atrophy), and conducting suitable one-year follow-ups. Additionally, demographic and clinical data such as age, gender, type of stroke, and treatment details will be recorded.

The primary outcome is the prevalence of frailty among stroke patients. Secondary outcomes include the characteristics and impacts of frailty in stroke patients, including correlations between various frailty features and clinical outcomes such as length of hospital stay, mortality, and functional outcome.