Background: Frailty is a clinical syndrome characterized by vulnerability to stressors resulting from a loss of physiological reserve across multiple systems. Frailty is a common condition in older adults and is associated with disability, morbidity, increased healthcare utilization, and mortality. Frailty assessments derive from two major frameworks: the frailty phenotype and the deficit accumulation model. [...]

Background: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians have sought to identify risk factors for severe disease to help guide hospital algorithms, resource allocation and therapeutics. Older age, high Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), D-dimer and C-reactive protein (CRP) are associated with severe disease (1-5). CCI and SaO2/FiO2 ratio are associated with mortality, but the changing SaO2 in [...]

Background: Communication between referring Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities and home health care agencies in the community is imperative for comprehensive care for Veterans. However, to date little is known about communication during care transitions from VHA facilities to home health care. The purpose of the present study is to conduct a preliminary exploratory survey [...]