[Assessment instruments for frail elders: a literature review.]

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Nursing Science
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Frailty commonly affects elderly individuals with multiple chronic illnesses, leading to unstable health and complex care needs.
• Accurate frailty assessment is crucial for developing tailored care plans addressing patients' specific clinical, social, and environmental factors.
• Nurses play a key role in evaluating frailty and implementing appropriate interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and review instruments used by nurses for assessing frailty in the elderly population.
• To analyze the characteristics and domains covered by various frailty assessment tools.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature search was conducted across PubMed, CINAHL, and Cochrane databases using keywords 'frailty,' 'weights and measures,' and 'scale.'
• Inclusion criteria focused on individuals aged 65 and above, with articles in English and Italian. References of selected articles were also reviewed.
• Assessment tools were categorized by domain (cognitive, psychological, physical, social) and their suitability for nursing practice was evaluated.

Main Results:

• The review identified 13 distinct frailty assessment tools from 115 selected articles.
• Tools were classified as either unidimensional, focusing on physical or physiological aspects, or multidimensional, integrating physical, psychological, and social domains.
• Multidimensional tools examine the interplay between various aspects of human functioning.

Conclusions:

• Currently, there is no universally standardized or internationally agreed-upon measure for assessing frailty.
• The choice of frailty assessment tool depends on the specific context, with some instruments being more suitable for community-level screening and others for hospital settings.