Objectives We aimed to examine the relationship between access to medicine for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) among people at high risk of CVD in high-income countries (HICs), upper and lower middle-income countries (UMICs, LMICs) and low-income countries (LICs) participating in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study. Methods We defined high CVD risk as the presence of any of the following: hypertension, coronary artery disease, stroke, smoker, diabetes or age >55 years. Availability and affordability of blood pressure lowering drugs, antiplatelets and statins were obtained from pharmacies. Participants were categorised: group 1—all three drug types were available and affordable, group 2—all three drugs were available but not affordable and group 3—all three drugs were not available. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazard models with nested clustering at country and community levels, adjusting for comorbidities, sociodemographic and economic factors. Results Of 163 466 participants, there were 93 200 with high CVD risk from 21 countries (mean age 54.7, 49% female). Of these, 44.9% were from group 1, 29.4% from group 2 and 25.7% from group 3. Compared with participants from group 1, the risk of MACEs was higher among participants in group 2 (HR 1.19, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.31), and among participants from group 3 (HR 1.25, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.50). Conclusion Lower availability and affordability of essential CVD medicines were associated with higher risk of MACEs and mortality. Improving access to CVD medicines should be a key part of the strategy to lower CVD globally.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a frailty index (FI) and explore the relationship of frailty to subsequent adverse outcomes on the effectiveness and safety of more intensive control of both blood glucose and blood pressure (BP), among participants with type 2 diabetes in the Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease: Preterax and Diamicron Modified Release Controlled Evaluation (ADVANCE) trial. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the effectiveness and safety of intensive glucose control and BP intervention according to frailty (defined as FI >0.21) status. The primary outcomes were macro- and microvascular events. The secondary outcomes were all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, severe hypoglycemia, and discontinuation of BP treatment due to hypotension/dizziness. RESULTS: There were 11,140 participants (mean age, 65.8 years; 42.5% women, 25.7% frail). Frailty was an independent predictor of all primary outcomes and secondary outcomes. The effect of intensive glucose treatment on primary outcomes showed some evidence of attenuation in the frail: hazard ratios for combined major macro- and microvascular events 1.03 (95% CI 0.90–1.19) in the frail versus 0.84 (95% CI 0.74–0.94) in the nonfrail (P = 0.02). A similar trend was observed with BP intervention. Severe hypoglycemia rates (per 1,000 person-years) were higher in the frail: 8.39 (6.15–10.63) vs. 4.80 (3.84–5.76) in nonfrail (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in discontinuation of BP treatment between frailty groups. CONCLUSIONS: It was possible to retrospectively estimate frailty in a trial population, and this FI identified those at higher risk of poor outcomes. Participants with frailty had some attenuation of benefit from intensive glucose-lowering and BP-lowering treatments.

Background As the population ages, the prevalence and clinical importance of frailty are increasing. There have been few published studies about frailty in developing world. This study aims to review the evidence from developing countries on the prevalence of frailty, definition of frailty and factors associated with frailty. Method A literature search was conducted via MEDLINE and EMBASE. Keywords included “frail”, “frailty”, “prevalence”, “criteria”, “definition”, “risk factors”, “outcomes”, “developing country”, “developing world”, and names of low and middle income countries according to the classification of the World Bank. Result A total of 14 articles were reviewed from Brazil (n=6), China (n=3), Mexico (n=2), and one each from Russia, India, and Peru. There were 9 articles from community-based studies and 5 articles from hospital-based studies. Fried’s phenotype for frailty was used to define frailty in the majority of studies. The prevalence of frailty in community-dwelling older people was 17%–31% in Brazil, 15% in Mexico, 5%–31% in China, and 21%–44% in Russia. The prevalence of frailty was 49% in institutionalized older patients in Brazil and 32% in hospitalized older patients in India. The prevalence of frailty in outpatient clinics was 55%–71% in Brazil and 28% in Peru. Frailty was associated with increased mortality and comorbidities, decreased physical and cognitive function, and poor perceptions of health. Conclusion The limited studies available suggest that frailty occurs frequently in older people in the developing world and it appears to be associated with adverse outcomes. This has implications for policy and health care provision for these ageing populations.