Shrauner W, Lord EM, Nguyen XMT, et al. - In this analysis of US Veterans (n=3,068,439), both the presence and severity of frailty were shown to be tightly correlated with cardiovascular (CV) death, independent of underlying CV disease. This research represents the largest and most contemporary assessment of the association between frailty and CV mortality to date.

• This study included all US Veterans aged ≥65 years who were regular users of Veteran Affairs care from 2002 to 2017, to investigate if frailty is linked with an elevated risk of CV mortality.

• The median (interquartile range) frailty score was 0.16 (0.10–0.23) in 2002, this rose and stabilized to 0.19 (0.10–0.32) for 2006–14.

• Existence of frailty was found to be related to an elevated risk of CV mortality at every stage of frailty.

• Association of frailty with an elevated risk of myocardial infarction and stroke, but not revascularization, was evident.