ORTHOSTATIC HYPOTENSION AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH FRAILTY

AbstractOrthostatic hypotension (OH) is the most common disorder of blood pressure regulation after essential hypertension, with prevalences increasing with age. Biologically, it is plausible that OH, reflecting disordered haemodynamic equilibrium, could be a manifestation of a wider process of multisystem dysregulation of frailty. Despite suggestions in the literature that OH may be a sign of frailty, few studies have been able to validate this hypothesis. In this cross-sectional observational study, we recruited 150 subjects from three different settings (apparently healthy, outpatient and inpatient). OH was defined as a drop of ≥20 mmHg in systolic blood pressure or a drop of ≥10 mmHg diastolic pressure and frailty was assessed using both the phenotypic (FP) and frailty index (FI) models. The frequency and correlates of OH in the three different settings were identified. OH was significantly related to the both FP and FI models.This study suggests that OH may be a marker of the system dysregulation seen in frailty and further assessment of frailty in patients of OH can be a potential opportunity for early intervention to delay functional decline.