Physical frailty characteristics have a differential impact on symptoms as measured by the CAT score: an observational study

Table 2 Association between demographic, health and frailty characteristics, and CAT^a

Variables	Models 1^c	Model 2^d	Models 3^e	Final Model
Demographic variables
Age (years)	0.03 (0.07) 0.715	N.a.		N.a.
Male	0.25 (1.90) 0.894	N.a.		N.a.
Health-related variables
BMI (kg/m²)	0.23 (0.12) 0.067			N.a.
Smoking (pack-years)	0.03 (0.02) 0.140	N.a.		N.a.
Dyspnea (≥ 2 mMRC)	8.89 (1.06) 0.001	7.28 (1.08) 0.001		6.20 (1.08) 0.001
Exacerbations^b (≥ 2)	4.13 (1.20) 0.001	2.13 (1.02) 0.038		2.17 (0.99) 0.031
Comorbilidities (≥ 4)	2.57 (1.28) 0.048			N.a.
FEV₁% predicted	−0.12 (0.04) 0.001			N.a.
FVC % predicted	−0.09 (0.03) 0.005			N.a.
Anxiety (HADS-A ≥ 11)	9.05 (1.74) 0.001	3.36 (1.67) 0.046		3.85 (1.51) 0.012
Depression (HADS-D ≥ 11)	8.87 (2.01) 0.001	5.45 (1.82) 0.003
Frailty characteristics
Unintentional weight loss	0.22 (2.41) 0.684	N.a.	0.12 (1.89) 0.948	N.a.
Low physical activity	0.11 (1.41) 0.551	N.a.	0.39 (1.08) 0.715	N.a.
Exhaustion	8.98 (1.37) 0.001	N.a.	4.26 (1.35) 0.002	5.12 (1.27) 0.001
Slow walking speed	3.61 (2.11) 0.486	N.a.	0.72 (1.65) 0.665	N.a.
Low grip strength	0.95 (1.28) 0.457	0.20 (0.95) 0.835	0.20 (0.98) 0.835	N.a.

Abbreviations: BMI body mass index, mMRC modified British Medical Research Council, HADS-A Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (Anxiety), HADS-D Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (Depression), FEV1 forced expiratory volume in 1 s, FVC forced vital capacity, CAT COPD assessment test
^aData represent B coefficients (standard error) and p-value unless otherwise noted
^bModerate or severe exacerbations in last year
^cModels 1 are unadjusted models of each demographic, health and frailty characteristics
^dModel 2 includes significant (p < 0.10) sociodemographics and health variables from model 1
^eModels 3 includes significant (p < 0.10) variables from model 2 and each individual frailty characteristic included separately
Final Model is fully adjusted and includes significant variables from models 2 and 3
N.a. Not included in the model

ISSN: 1477-7525