Utility of the Identification of Seniors at Risk Score to Predict In-Hospital Mortality in Older Patients With Heart Failure

Abstract

Heart failure (HF) is a life-threatening medical condition that requires urgent evaluation and treatment.1 The decision to enter an intensive care unit is usually individual and based on risk models of the specific process.2 In clinical practice, this decision making can be extremely complex, especially for older patients with HF without dependence on the activities of established daily life or the existence of advanced guidelines limiting the therapeutic effort.3,4 Frailty is considered a dynamic state of vulnerability that if not detected and treated early can trigger adverse outcomes such as death, dependency, or institutionalization.