In older adults, cardiovascular disease may present in atypical ways, with variations in disease progression influenced by the individual degree of comorbidity and frailty.

Enhancing knowledge and confidence in the use of validated tools to assess comorbidity and frailty represents an important opportunity for improving care. In clinical practice, patients with diabetes and other comorbidities are often perceived as being less closely monitored and having lower treatment adherence compared to healthier, more robust adults.

This month’s FOCUS highlights specific recommendations to address cardiovascular disease in older patients from relevant ESC guidelines and clinical consensus statements. Developed with feedback from 58 National Cardiac Societies, two dedicated webinars on existing advice for older adults aim to identify key domains and components of frailty, alongside specialised cardio-geriatric approaches to managing cardiovascular diseases. The webinars also explore the implementation of best clinical practice drawing on the latest evidence from recent trials involving hypertension, antithrombotic, lipid lowering, and cardiometabolic therapies.

The content below was selected by Luigina Guasti, Konstantinos Toutouzas, and Marc Ferrini to help guide a targeted approach, effective assessments and more comprehensive management of cardiovascular disease in older adults.