Introduction:

Advanced chronic kidney disease primarily affects patients over 65 years old, often with a certain degree of frailty and dependency. This, coupled with high comorbidity, significantly impacts the quality of life for these individuals.

Objectives:

To assess frailty in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease and its impact on quality of life, as well as its relationship with dependency.

Material and Method:

A total of 107 patients were studied, with a median age of 74 years (IQR=18); 37 were women (34.6%). A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in the advanced chronic kidney disease clinic of the Nephrology Department at Reina Sofía University Hospital in Córdoba. Patients in stages 4-5 without prior renal replacement therapy were included. The following questionnaires were employed: FRAIL to assess frailty; KDQOL-SF for health-related quality of life assessment; and the Barthel Index to establish the degree of dependency.

Results:

Some degree of frailty was exhibited in 61.3% of patients, and 26.2% of them had difficulty performing some basic activities of daily living. Frailty was associated with a poorer quality of life, with most dimensions of the KDQOL-SF questionnaire affected, and with dependency. The most affected dimensions of the KDQOL-SF were Employment Status and Sleep from the specific questionnaire and General Health and Vitality from the generic questionnaire.

Conclusions:

Frailty is significantly present in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease, and it is associated with a lower quality of life and a higher degree of dependency.