Prevalence and influencing factors of frailty in elderly stroke patients:a meta-analysis

TIAN Chunlan; JIANG Cong; WANG Ya; LIN Zhi; TAO Jinsong; MU Yan

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2096-9058.2026.01.010

Abstract：Objective To conduct a meta-analysis on the prevalence of frailty and its influencing factors among el‐derly stroke patients,and to provide evidence-based references for early identification and intervention.Methods Com‐puterized searches were performed in CNKI,WanFang,VIP,CBM,PubMed,Web of Science,Embase,The Cochrane Library,and CINAHL databases.The search period covered from the establishment of each database to March 2025.Stata 12.0 and RevMan 5.4 software were used to perform the meta-analysis of frailty prevalence and its influencing factors.Results A total of 24 articles were included.Meta-analysis showed that the prevalence of frailty in elderly stroke patients was 45%.Age(OR=1.26,95%CI:1.17-1.35),sleep disorder(OR=3.06,95%CI:1.95-4.81),impaired self-care ability(OR=1.29,95%CI:1.17-1.41),depression(OR=4.07,95%CI:2.37-6.97),malnutrition(OR=5.64,95%CI:3.14-10.14),taking≥3 types of medications(OR=3.96,95%CI:1.56-10.06),living alone(OR=4.36,95%CI:3.15-6.03),multimorbidity(OR=4.71,95%CI:2.25-9.87),cognitive impairment(OR=7.54,95%CI:5.32-10.70),high National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale(NIHSS)scores(OR=2.98,95%CI:1.40-6.36),diabe‐tes mellitus(OR=4.07,95%CI:1.77-9.34),dysphagia(OR=2.10,95%CI:2.02-2.18),and history of falls(OR=4.34,95%CI:2.75-6.87)were risk factors for frailty in elderly stroke patients;while physical exercise(OR=0.35,95%CI:0.26-0.46)and dietary guidance(OR=0.27,95%CI:0.08-0.94)were protective factors(all P<0.05).Conclusion The prevalence of frailty in elderly stroke patients is relatively high,clinicians need to establish a continu‐ous frailty assessment mechanism to provide scientific support for long-term health management of elderly stroke patients.