The effect of frailty on hospitalisation trajectories in adults aged 65 and older across 10 European countries

A 14-year longitudinal analysis from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)

Bibliographic Data

ID22427004
AuthorsSelam Woldemariam (0009-0005-7632-7389, European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research), Erwin Stolz (0000-0001-7393-1568, Medical University of Graz), K Viktoria Stein (0000-0002-6225-6226, Karl Landsteiner Society), Sandra Haider (0000-0002-3612-7332, Medical University of Vienna), Thomas E Dorner (0000-0002-5218-1160, Austrian Academy of Sciences, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume23
Issue1
Publication date2026-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of Ageing (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1613-9372 • E-ISSN: 1613-9380
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s10433-026-00914-z
PMID41991778
OpenAlexW7154593623
LanguageEN
References cited47

Evidence indicates an association between frailty and hospitalisation. However, hospital admissions occur repeatedly over time in old age, and most research has only focussed on single hospital admission. This study examines how frailty influences subsequent hospital use— both the risk of hospital admission and the duration of overnight stays—among community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older across ten European countries over a 14-year period. Seven waves of data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) were used. Frailty was measured at baseline (wave 1) using the sex-specific SHARE Frailty Instrument, classifying participants as robust, prefrail, or frail. Hospital admission and length of stay during the past 12 months were measured at waves 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Logistic mixed models was fitted to estimate the risk of hospital admission, and negative binomial mixed models to calculate the duration of hospital stays. Baseline frailty was associated with an increased risk of hospital admission over 14 years, yet among those who were hospitalised, frailty was not strongly related to longer stays. These findings suggest that frailty predicts whether older adults are admitted to hospital but is less informative regarding how long they remain once hospitalised. Routine frailty screening in primary care may help identify those at greatest risk and enable better-targeted community interventions to prevent avoidable hospitalisations and improve health outcomes for older people.

Geriatrics · Health and Retirement Study · Hospital admission · Hospital discharge · Logistic regression · Longitudinal study · Psychological intervention · Public health · Chronic Disease Management Strategies · Frailty in Older Adults · Primary Care and Health Outcomes · Epidemiology

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