Role of clinical frailty on long-term mortality of elderly subjects with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background And Aims: Elderly subjects are characterized by a high prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and frailty. This study examined the predictive role of frailty on long-term mortality in elderly subjects with and without COPD.

Methods: The study assessed mortality after a 12-year follow-up in 489 subjects with COPD and 799 subjects without COPD, selected in 1992.

Depressive symptoms predict mortality in elderly subjects with chronic heart failure.

Background: Chronic heart failure (CHF) is characterized by a high mortality in the elderly. Moreover, depression status is also related to poor prognosis in advancing age. Thus, we sought to determine whether depressive status predicts long-term mortality in subject with or without CHF.