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Calvin H. Hirsch

Bio: Calvin H. Hirsch is an academic researcher from University of California, Davis. The author has contributed to research in topics: Dementia & Population. The author has an hindex of 38, co-authored 129 publications receiving 20691 citations. Previous affiliations of Calvin H. Hirsch include University of Southern California & University of California, Berkeley.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This study provides a potential standardized definition for frailty in community-dwelling older adults and offers concurrent and predictive validity for the definition, and finds that there is an intermediate stage identifying those at high risk of frailty.
Abstract: Background: Frailty is considered highly prevalent in old age and to confer high risk for falls, disability, hospitalization, and mortality. Frailty has been considered synonymous with disability, comorbidity, and other characteristics, but it is recognized that it may have a biologic basis and be a distinct clinical syndrome. A standardized definition has not yet been established. Methods: To develop and operationalize a phenotype of frailty in older adults and assess concurrent and predictive validity, the study used data from the Cardiovascular Health Study. Participants were 5,317 men and women 65 years and older (4,735 from an original cohort recruited in 1989-90 and 582 from an African American cohort recruited in 1992-93). Both cohorts received almost identical baseline evaluations and 7 and 4 years of follow-up, respectively, with annual examinations and surveillance for outcomes including incident disease, hospitalization, falls, disability, and mortality. Results: Frailty was defined as a clinical syndrome in which three or more of the following criteria were present: unintentional weight loss (10 lbs in past year), self-reported exhaustion, weakness (grip strength), slow walking speed, and low physical activity. The overall prevalence of frailty in this community-dwelling population was 6.9%; it increased with age and was greater in women than men. Four-year incidence was 7.2%. Frailty was associated with being African American, having lower education and income, poorer health, and having higher rates of comorbid chronic diseases and disability. There was overlap, but not concordance, in the cooccurrence of frailty, comorbidity, and disability. This frailty phenotype was independently predictive (over 3 years) of incident falls, worsening mobility or ADL disability, hospitalization, and death, with hazard ratios ranging from 1.82 to 4.46, unadjusted, and 1.29-2.24, adjusted for a number of health, disease, and social characteristics predictive of 5-year mortality. Intermediate frailty status, as indicated by the presence of one or two criteria, showed intermediate risk of these outcomes as well as increased risk of becoming frail over 3-4 years of follow-up (odds ratios for incident frailty = 4.51 unadjusted and 2.63 adjusted for covariates, compared to those with no frailty criteria at baseline). Conclusions: This study provides a potential standardized definition for frailty in community-dwelling older adults and offers concurrent and predictive validity for the definition. It also finds that there is an intermediate stage identifying those at high risk of frailty. Finally, it provides evidence that frailty is not synonymous with either comorbidity or disability, but comorbidity is an etiologic risk factor for, and disability is an outcome of, frailty. This provides a potential basis for clinical assessment for those who are frail or at risk, and for future research to develop interventions for frailty based on a standardized ascertainment of frailty.

16,255 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The hypothesis that there is a specific physiological basis to the geriatric syndrome of frailty that is characterized in part by increased inflammation and elevated markers of blood clotting is supported and that these physiological differences persist when those with diabetes and cardiovascular disease are excluded.
Abstract: Background The biological basis of frailty has been difficult to establish owing to the lack of a standard definition, its complexity, and its frequent coexistence with illness. Objective To establish the biological correlates of frailty in the presence and absence of concurrent cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus. Methods Participants were 4735 community-dwelling adults 65 years and older. Frail, intermediate, and nonfrail subjects were identified by a validated screening tool and exclusion criteria. Bivariate relationships between frailty level and physiological measures were evaluated by Pearson χ 2 tests for categorical variables and analysis of variance F tests for continuous variables. Multinomial logistic regression was performed to evaluate multivariable relationships between frailty status and physiological measures. Results Of 4735 Cardiovascular Health Study participants, 299 (6.3%) were identified as frail, 2147 (45.3%) as intermediate, and 2289 (48.3%) as not frail. Frail vs nonfrail participants had increased mean ± SD levels of C-reactive protein (5.5 ± 9.8 vs 2.7 ± 4.0 mg/L), factor VIII (13 790 ± 4480 vs 11 860 ± 3460 mg/dL), and, in a smaller subset, D dimer (647 ± 1033 vs 224 ± 258 ng/mL) ( P ≤.001 for all, χ 2 test for trend). These differences persisted when individuals with cardiovascular disease and diabetes were excluded and after adjustment for age, sex, and race. Conclusions These findings support the hypothesis that there is a specific physiological basis to the geriatric syndrome of frailty that is characterized in part by increased inflammation and elevated markers of blood clotting and that these physiological differences persist when those with diabetes and cardiovascular disease are excluded.

891 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Cardiovascular disease was associated with an increased likelihood of frail health and infarct-like lesions in the brain on magnet resonance imaging were related to frailty as well.
Abstract: Methods. Frailty status was defined in participants of the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), a cohort of 5,201 community-dwelling older adults, based on the presence of three out of five clinical criteria. The five criteria included selfreported weight loss, low grip strength, low energy, slow gait speed, and low physical activity. We examined the spectrum of clinical and subclinical cardiovascular disease in those who were frail (3/5 criteria) or of intermediate frailty status (1or 2/5 criteria), compared to those who were not frail (0/5). We hypothesized that the severity of frailty would be related to a higher prevalence of reported cardiovascular disease (CVD), as well as to a greater extent of CVD, measured by noninvasive testing. Results. Of 4,735 eligible participants, 2,289 (48%) were not frail, 299 (6%) were frail, and 2,147 (45%) were of intermediate frailty status. Those who were frail were older (77.2 yrs) compared to those who were not frail (71.5 yrs) or intermediate (73.4 yrs) ( p , .001). Frailty status was associated with clinical CVD and most strongly with congestive heart failure (odds ratio [OR] 5 7.51 (95% confidence interval [CI] 5 4.66‐12.12). In those without a history of a CVD event ( n 5 1,259), frailty was associated with many noninvasive measures of CVD. Those with carotid stenosis . 75% (adjusted OR 5 3.41), ankle-arm index , 0.8 (adjusted OR 5 3.17) or 0.8‐0.9 (adjusted OR 5 2.01), major electrocardiography (ECG) abnormalities (adjusted OR 5 1.58), greater left ventricular (LV) mass by echocardiography (adjusted OR 5 1.16), and higher degree of infarct-like lesions in the brain (adjusted OR 5 1.71), were more likely to be frail compared to those who were not frail. The overall associations of each of these noninvasive measures of CVD with frailty level were significant (all p , .05). Conclusions. Cardiovascular disease was associated with an increased likelihood of frail health. In those with no history of CVD, the extent of underlying cardiovascular disease measured by carotid ultrasound and ankle‐arm index, LV hypertrophy by ECG and echocardiography, was related to frailty. Infarct-like lesions in the brain on magnet resonance imaging were related to frailty as well.

724 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The data suggest that older patients may experience a burden of new and worsened functional impairment during hospitalization that improves at a much slower rate than the acute illness.
Abstract: This study provides data on changes in the functional status of older patients that are associated with acute hospitalization. Seventy-one patients over the age of 74 admitted to the medical service of Stanford University Hospital between February and May 1987 received functional assessments covering seven domains: mobility, transfer, toileting, incontinence, feeding, grooming, and mental status. Assessments were obtained by report from the patient's caregiver (or the patient when he or she lived alone) for 2 weeks before admission; from the patient's nurse on day 2 of hospitalization and on the day before discharge; and again from the caregiver (or patient) 1 week after discharge. The sample had a mean age of 84, covered 37 Diagnostic Related Groups, and had a median length of stay of 8 days. Between baseline and day 2, statistically significant deteriorations occurred for the overall functional score and for the individual scores for mobility, transfer, toileting, feeding, and grooming. None of these scores improved significantly by discharge. In the case of mobility, 65% of the patients experienced a decline in score between baseline and day 2. Between day 2 and discharge, 67% showed no improvement, and another 10% deteriorated further. These data suggest that older patients may experience a burden of new and worsened functional impairment during hospitalization that improves at a much slower rate than the acute illness. An awareness of delayed functional recovery should influence discharge planning for older patients. Greater efforts to prevent functional decline in the hospitalized older patient may be warranted.

459 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is shown that the magnitude of health effects attributable to caregiving can vary substantially, with the largest negative health effects observed among caregivers who characterize themselves as being strained.
Abstract: We propose that two related sources of variability in studies of caregiving health effects contribute to an inconsistent pattern of findings: the sampling strategy used, and the definition of what constitutes caregiving. Samples are often recruited through selfreferral and are typically comprised of caregivers experiencing considerable distress. In this study, we examine the health effects of caregiving in large population-based samples of spousal caregivers and controls using a wide array of objective and self-report physical and mental health outcome measures. By applying different definitions of caregiving, we show that the magnitude of health effects attributable to caregiving can vary substantially, with the largest negative health effects observed among caregivers who characterize themselves as being strained. From an epidemiological perspective, our data show that approximately 80% of persons living with a spouse with a disability provide care to their spouse, but only half of care providers report mental or physical strain associated with caregiving.

449 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This study provides a potential standardized definition for frailty in community-dwelling older adults and offers concurrent and predictive validity for the definition, and finds that there is an intermediate stage identifying those at high risk of frailty.
Abstract: Background: Frailty is considered highly prevalent in old age and to confer high risk for falls, disability, hospitalization, and mortality. Frailty has been considered synonymous with disability, comorbidity, and other characteristics, but it is recognized that it may have a biologic basis and be a distinct clinical syndrome. A standardized definition has not yet been established. Methods: To develop and operationalize a phenotype of frailty in older adults and assess concurrent and predictive validity, the study used data from the Cardiovascular Health Study. Participants were 5,317 men and women 65 years and older (4,735 from an original cohort recruited in 1989-90 and 582 from an African American cohort recruited in 1992-93). Both cohorts received almost identical baseline evaluations and 7 and 4 years of follow-up, respectively, with annual examinations and surveillance for outcomes including incident disease, hospitalization, falls, disability, and mortality. Results: Frailty was defined as a clinical syndrome in which three or more of the following criteria were present: unintentional weight loss (10 lbs in past year), self-reported exhaustion, weakness (grip strength), slow walking speed, and low physical activity. The overall prevalence of frailty in this community-dwelling population was 6.9%; it increased with age and was greater in women than men. Four-year incidence was 7.2%. Frailty was associated with being African American, having lower education and income, poorer health, and having higher rates of comorbid chronic diseases and disability. There was overlap, but not concordance, in the cooccurrence of frailty, comorbidity, and disability. This frailty phenotype was independently predictive (over 3 years) of incident falls, worsening mobility or ADL disability, hospitalization, and death, with hazard ratios ranging from 1.82 to 4.46, unadjusted, and 1.29-2.24, adjusted for a number of health, disease, and social characteristics predictive of 5-year mortality. Intermediate frailty status, as indicated by the presence of one or two criteria, showed intermediate risk of these outcomes as well as increased risk of becoming frail over 3-4 years of follow-up (odds ratios for incident frailty = 4.51 unadjusted and 2.63 adjusted for covariates, compared to those with no frailty criteria at baseline). Conclusions: This study provides a potential standardized definition for frailty in community-dwelling older adults and offers concurrent and predictive validity for the definition. It also finds that there is an intermediate stage identifying those at high risk of frailty. Finally, it provides evidence that frailty is not synonymous with either comorbidity or disability, but comorbidity is an etiologic risk factor for, and disability is an outcome of, frailty. This provides a potential basis for clinical assessment for those who are frail or at risk, and for future research to develop interventions for frailty based on a standardized ascertainment of frailty.

16,255 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Authors/Task Force Members: Piotr Ponikowski* (Chairperson) (Poland), Adriaan A. Voors* (Co-Chair person) (The Netherlands), Stefan D. Anker (Germany), Héctor Bueno (Spain), John G. F. Cleland (UK), Andrew J. S. Coats (UK)

13,400 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) developed a practical clinical definition and consensus diagnostic criteria for age-related sarcopenia as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) developed a practical clinical definition and consensus diagnostic criteria for age-related sarcopenia. EWGSOP included representatives from four participant organisations, i.e. the European Geriatric Medicine Society, the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics-European Region and the International Association of Nutrition and Aging. These organisations endorsed the findings in the final document. The group met and addressed the following questions, using the medical literature to build evidence-based answers: (i) What is sarcopenia? (ii) What parameters define sarcopenia? (iii) What variables reflect these parameters, and what measurement tools and cut-off points can be used? (iv) How does sarcopenia relate to cachexia, frailty and sarcopenic obesity? For the diagnosis of sarcopenia, EWGSOP recommends using the presence of both low muscle mass + low muscle function (strength or performance). EWGSOP variously applies these characteristics to further define conceptual stages as 'presarcopenia', 'sarcopenia' and 'severe sarcopenia'. EWGSOP reviewed a wide range of tools that can be used to measure the specific variables of muscle mass, muscle strength and physical performance. Our paper summarises currently available data defining sarcopenia cut-off points by age and gender; suggests an algorithm for sarcopenia case finding in older individuals based on measurements of gait speed, grip strength and muscle mass; and presents a list of suggested primary and secondary outcome domains for research. Once an operational definition of sarcopenia is adopted and included in the mainstream of comprehensive geriatric assessment, the next steps are to define the natural course of sarcopenia and to develop and define effective treatment.

8,440 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: ACCF/AHAIAI: angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor as discussed by the authors, angio-catabolizing enzyme inhibitor inhibitor inhibitor (ACS inhibitor) is a drug that is used to prevent atrial fibrillation.
Abstract: ACC/AHA : American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association ACCF/AHA : American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association ACE : angiotensin-converting enzyme ACEI : angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor ACS : acute coronary syndrome AF : atrial fibrillation

7,489 citations