Abstract: 【Abstract】Objective The purpose of this study was to explore the factors relating to frailty in elderly maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. Method A total of 92 patients with regular MHD in the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from April 2017 to April 2019 were recruited. Frailty scores were estimated by a frailty symptom scale. The patients were then divided into non-frailty group, pre-frailty group and frailty group according to the frailty scores. General conditions, laboratory indicators and depression status of the patients were analyzed and compared between the groups. Spearman rank correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between frailty scores and other indicators. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to analyze the risk factors for frailty in elderly MHD patients. Result Among the 92 elderly MHD patients, 32 cases were in the non-frailty group (34.78%), 29 cases in the pre-frailty group (31.52%), and 31 cases in the frailty group (33.70%). Age (F=23.094 P＜0.001), dialysis age (F=11.405, P=0.003), hemoglobin (F=16.327, P<0.001), serum levels of albumin (F=15.347, P＜0.001), prealbumin (F=6.759, P=0.002), C- reactive protein (CRP) (F=7.851, P=0.001), 25- hydroxyvitamin D (F=18.367, P<0.001), urea (F=5.017, P=0.009) and creatinine (F=4.985, P=0.009), and depression (χ2=10.549, P=0.005) were statistically significant between the three groups. Frailty scores were positively correlated with C- reactive protein (r=0.327, P= 0.001),urea(r=0.285, P=0.006), creatinine (r=0.322,P=0.002) and depression (r=0.503, P<0.001), and were negatively correlated with dialysis age (r=- 0.468, P＜0.001), hemoglobin (r=- 0.533, P＜0.001), serum albumin (r=0.281, P=0.007) and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (r=0.524, P<0.001). Dialysis age (OR= 11.000, 95% CI=0.888～0.970, P=0.001), hemoglobin (OR=13.189, 95% CI=0.803～0.936, P<0.001), serum levels of albumin (OR=8.158, 95% CI=0.591～0.907, P=0.004), C- reactive protein (OR=6.650, 95% CI= 1.099～2.002, P=0.010) and 25- hydroxyvitamin D (OR=16.392, 95% CI=0.666～0.868, P<0.001), and depression (OR=3.939, 95% CI=1.015～10.457, P=0.047) were the influencing factors for frailty in elderly MHD patients. Conclusion The prevalence of frailty was higher in elderly MHD patients. Frailty was related to hemoglobin, serum levels of albumin, CRP and 25-hydroxyvitamin D, depression and dialysis vintage.

Key words: Maintenance hemodialysis, Frailty, Depression