Elsa Dent

Frailty measurement in research and clinical practice: A review

One of the leading causes of morbidity and premature mortality in older people is frailty. Frailty occurs when multiple physiological systems decline, to the extent that an individuals cellular repair mechanisms cannot maintain system homeostasis. This review gives an overview of the definitions and measurement of frailty in research and clinical practice, including: Frieds frailty phenotype; Rockwood and Mitnitskis Frailty Index (FI); the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF) Index; Edmonton Frailty Scale (EFS); the Fatigue, Resistance, Ambulation, Illness and Loss of weight (FRAIL) Index; Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS); the Multidimensional Prognostic Index (MPI); Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI); PRISMA-7; Groningen Frailty Indicator (GFI), Sherbrooke Postal Questionnaire (SPQ); the Gérontopôle Frailty Screening Tool (GFST) and the Kihon Checklist (KCL), among others. We summarise the main strengths and limitations of existing frailty measurements, and examine how well these measurements operationalise frailty according to Cleggs guidelines for frailty classification - that is: their accuracy in identifying frailty; their basis on biological causative theory; and their ability to reliably predict patient outcomes and response to potential therapies.

Nutritional Screening Tools as Predictors of Mortality, Functional Decline, and Move to Higher Level Care in Older People: A Systematic Review

This systematic review assessed whether nutritional screening tools (NSTs) predict mortality, functional decline, and move to higher level care in older adults residing in the community or in institutions. In total, 37 prospective studies published between 1999 and 2012 met inclusion criteria and were included in this review. The most commonly used NST in these studies was the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). Comparison of NSTs was limited by variation in follow-up time, lack of uniform definition of functional decline, and biases in many studies. Results of MNA, MNA-Short Form (MNA-SF), and Geriatric Nutrition Risk Index (GNRI) assessments were significantly associated with subsequent mortality, with good negative predictive power (∼0.83), but only modest positive predictive power (PPV∼0.32). MNA-SF and MNA results had a low to moderate association with functional decline (PPV∼0.34). Move to higher level care was less strongly associated with NST scores (PPV∼0.25). Overall, there is evidence that NSTs can predict those at low risk of mortality, functional decline, and, to a lesser extent, move to higher level care in older people.

The Asia-Pacific clinical practice guidelines for the management of frailty

OBJECTIVE To develop Clinical Practice Guidelines for the screening, assessment and management of the geriatric condition of frailty. METHODS An adapted Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach was used to develop the guidelines. This process involved detailed evaluation of the current scientific evidence paired with expert panel interpretation. Three categories of Clinical Practice Guidelines recommendations were developed: strong, conditional, and no recommendation. RECOMMENDATIONS Strong recommendations were (1) use a validated measurement tool to identify frailty; (2) prescribe physical activity with a resistance training component; and (3) address polypharmacy by reducing or deprescribing any inappropriate/superfluous medications. Conditional recommendations were (1) screen for, and address modifiable causes of fatigue; (2) for persons exhibiting unintentional weight loss, screen for reversible causes and consider food fortification and protein/caloric supplementation; and (3) prescribe vitamin D for individuals deficient in vitamin D. No recommendation was given regarding the provision of a patient support and education plan. CONCLUSIONS The recommendations provided herein are intended for use by healthcare providers in their management of older adults with frailty in the Asia Pacific region. It is proposed that regional guideline support committees be formed to help provide regular updates to these evidence-based guidelines.

Use of the Mini Nutritional assessment to detect frailty in hospitalised older people

ObjectivesThe aims of this study were to: (1) determine the prevalence of undemutrition and frailty in hospitalised elderly patients and (2) evaluate the efficacy of both the Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) screening tool and the MNA short form (MNA-SF) in identifying frailty.Setting and ParticipantsA convenient sample of 100 consecutive patients (75.0 % female) admitted to the Geriatric Evaluation and Management Unit (GEMU) at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in South Australia.MeasurementsFrailty status was determined using Fried’s frailty criteria and nutritional status by the MNA and MNA-SF. Optimal cut-off scores to predict frailty were determined by Youden’s Index, Receiver Operator Curves (ROC) and area under curve (AUC).ResultsUndernutrition was common. Using the MNA, 40.0% of patients were malnourished and 44.0% were at risk of malnutrition. By Fried’s classification, 66.0 % were frail, 30.0 % were pre-frail and 4.0 % robust. The MNA had a specificity of 0.912 and a sensitivity of 0.516 in predicting frailty using the recommended cut-off for malnourishment (< 17). The optimal MNA cut-off for frailty screening was <17.5 with a specificity of 0.912 and sensitivity of 0.591. The MNA-SF predicted frailty with specificity and sensitivity values of 0.794 and 0.636 respectively, using the standard cut-off of < 8. The optimal MNA-SF cut-off score for frailty was < 9, with specificity and sensitivity values of 0.765 and 0.803 respectively and was better than the optimum MNA cut-off in predicting frailty (Youden Index 0.568 vs. 0.503).ConclusionThe quickly and easily administered MNA-SF appears to be a good tool for predicting both under-nutrition and frailty in elderly hospitalised people. Further studies would show whether the MNA-SF could also detect frailty in other populations of older people.

Medication Regimen Complexity and Unplanned Hospital Readmissions in Older People

Background: Medication-related problems and adverse drug events are leading causes of preventable hospitalizations. Few previous studies have investigated the possible association between medication regimen complexity and unplanned rehospitalization. Objective: To investigate the association between discharge medication regimen complexity and unplanned rehospitalization over a 12-month period. Method: The prospective study comprised patients aged ≥70 years old consecutively admitted to a Geriatrics Evaluation and Management (GEM) unit between October 2010 and December 2011. Medication regimen complexity at discharge was calculated using the 65-item validated Medication Regimen Complexity Index (MRCI). Cox proportional-hazards regression was used to compute unadjusted and adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% CIs for factors associated with rehospitalization over a 12-month follow-up period. Result: Of 163 eligible patients, 99 patients had one or more unplanned hospital readmissions. When adjusting for age, sex, activities of daily living, depression, comorbidity, cognitive status, and discharge destination, MRCI (HR = 1.01; 95% CI = 0.81-1.26), number of discharge medications (HR = 1.01; 95% CI = 0.94-1.08), and polypharmacy (≥9 medications; HR = 1.12; 95% CI = 0.69-1.80) were not associated with rehospitalization. In patients discharged to nonhome settings, there was an association between rehospitalization and the number of discharge medications (HR = 1.12; 95% CI = 1.01-1.25) and polypharmacy (HR = 2.24; 95% CI = 1.02-4.94) but not between rehospitalization and MRCI (HR = 1.32; 95% CI = 0.98-1.78). Conclusion: Medication regimen complexity was not associated with unplanned hospital readmission in older people. However, in patients discharged to nonhome settings, the number of discharge medications and polypharmacy predicted rehospitalization. A patient’s discharge destination is an important factor in unplanned medication-related readmissions.

Do psychosocial resources modify the effects of frailty on functional decline and mortality

OBJECTIVE Little is known about factors that may prevent or delay adverse health outcomes in frail older adults. Previous studies have demonstrated beneficial effects of psychosocial resources on health outcomes in older adults. The aim of this study was to investigate whether psychosocial resources modify the effects of frailty on functional decline and mortality. METHODS The study sample consisted of 1665 men and women aged 58 and over from two waves of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA), a population based study. Frailty and psychosocial resources were assessed at T1 (2005/2006). Frailty was assessed using the criteria of Frieds phenotype. Psychosocial resources included sense of mastery, self-efficacy, instrumental support and emotional support. Functional decline and mortality were assessed at T2 (2008/2009). RESULTS Results of logistic regression analyses demonstrated that frail older adults had higher odds of both functional decline (OR=2.63, 95% CI=1.61-4.27) and 3-year mortality (OR=3.17, 95% CI=1.95-5.15). After adjustment for covariates, higher levels of mastery and self-efficacy were associated with decreased odds of functional decline, but not mortality. No statistically significant interaction effects between frailty and psychosocial resources were found for either functional decline or mortality. CONCLUSION This study found no evidence that psychosocial resources buffer against functional decline and mortality in frail older adults.

Adverse effects of frailty on social functioning in older adults: Results from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to examine the association between physical frailty and social functioning among older adults, cross-sectionally and prospectively over 3 years. STUDY DESIGN The study sample consisted of 1115 older adults aged 65 and over from two waves of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, a population based study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Frailty was measured at T1 (2005/2006) using the criteria of the frailty phenotype, which includes weight loss, weak grip strength, exhaustion, slow gait speed and low physical activity. Social functioning was assessed at T1 and T2 (2008/2009) and included social network size, instrumental support, emotional support, and loneliness. RESULTS Cross-sectional linear regression analyses adjusted for covariates (age, sex, educational level and number of chronic diseases) showed that pre-frail and frail older adults had a smaller network size and higher levels of loneliness compared to their non-frail peers. Longitudinal linear regression analyses adjusted for covariates and baseline social functioning showed that frailty was associated with an increase in loneliness over 3 years. However, the network size and levels of social support of frail older adults did not further decline over time. CONCLUSIONS Frailty is associated with poor social functioning, and with an increase in loneliness over time. The social vulnerability of physical frail older adults should be taken into account in the care provision for frail older adults.

Nutritional intervention as part of functional rehabilitation in older people with reduced functional ability: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled studies

BACKGROUND Nutritional intervention is increasingly recognised as having an important role in functional rehabilitation for older people. Nonetheless, a greater understanding of the functional benefit of nutritional interventions is needed. METHODS A systematic review and meta-analysis examined randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published between 2007 and 2014 with the aim of determining whether nutritional intervention combined with rehabilitation benefited older people with reduced functional ability. Six electronic databases were searched. RCTs including people aged 65 years and older with reduced physical, social and/or cognitive function were included. PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines were followed, and gradepro computer software (http://gradepro.org) was used for the quality assessment of critical and important outcomes. Included studies considered to be clinical homogenous were combined in a meta-analysis. RESULTS Of the 788 studies screened, five were identified for inclusion. Nutritional intervention given with functional rehabilitation improved energy and protein intake, although it failed to provide any improvement in final body weight, hand-grip strength or muscle strength. There was no difference between groups in the critical outcomes; balance, cognition, activities of daily living and mortality at long-term follow-up. Nutritional intervention given with functional rehabilitation was associated with an increased likelihood of both mortality (odds ratio = 1.77; 95% confidence interval = 1.13-2.76) and hospitalisation (odds ratio = 2.29; 95% confidence interval = 1.10-4.79) during the intervention. Meta-analysis of the baseline data showed that, overall, the intervention cohort had a lower body weight and cognition. CONCLUSIONS This meta-analysis highlights concerns regarding the quality of the randomisation of participants at baseline. Future high-quality research is essential to establish whether older people with loss of functional abilities can benefit from nutritional intervention.

Nutritional screening tools and anthropometric measures associate with hospital discharge outcomes in older people

To examine the association of nutritional screening tools (NSTs) and anthropometric measures with hospital outcomes in older people.

Frailty prevalence and associated factors in the Mexican health and aging study: a comparison of the frailty index and the phenotype

BACKGROUND Frailty is a relatively new phenomenon described mainly in the older population. There are a number of different tools that aim at categorizing an older adult as frail. Two of the main tools for this purpose are the Frieds frailty phenotype (FFP) and the frailty index (FI). The aim of this report is to determine the prevalence of frailty and associated factors using both FFP and the FI. METHODS Secondary analysis of 1108 individuals aged 60 or older is participating in the third (2012) wave from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS). The FFP and the FI were constructed and a set of variables from different domains were used to explore associations. Domains included were: socio-demographic, health-related, and psychological factors. Regarding prevalence, concordance was tested with a kappa statistic. To test significant associations when classifying with each of the tools, multiple logistic regression models were fitted. RESULTS Mean (SD) age was 69.8 (7.6) years, and 54.6% (n=606) were women. The prevalence of frailty with FFP was 24.9% (n=276) while with FI 27.5% (n=305). Kappa statistics for concordance between tools was 0.34 (p<0.001). Age, years in school, number of past days in bed due to health problems, number of times that consulted a physician last year for health problems, having smoked in the past, and life satisfaction were associated with frailty when using any of the tools. CONCLUSIONS There is a persistent heterogeneity on how frailty is measured that should be addressed in future research.