[Heterogeneity amongst different diagnostic tools in frailty screening]

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Primary Health Care
• Clinical Diagnostics

Background:

• Frailty is a state of vulnerability linked to aging and functional decline, necessitating early detection.
• Primary Health Care (PHC) is crucial for frailty management, but lacks a gold standard diagnostic tool.
• This study addresses the need for effective frailty detection within PHC.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the prevalence of frailty in a Primary Health Care population.
• To identify the most effective diagnostic tool for frailty detection in PHC.
• To evaluate the utility of Fried phenotype, SPPB, TUG, and GS tests.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 225 individuals over 75 years old from Navarre.
• Four frailty diagnostic tests were administered: Fried phenotype, SPPB, TUG, and GS.
• Exclusion criteria included inability to complete any test.

Main Results:

• Frailty prevalence varied widely: 8.3% (Fried), 13.7% (SPPB), 46.2% (TUG), and 52.2% (GS).
• Participants had a mean age of 80.5 years, with 80% on polypharmacy and 8.4% cognitive impairment.
• Independence levels were 31.1% for basic ADLs and 41.3% for instrumental ADLs.

Conclusions:

• Significant heterogeneity in frailty prevalence was observed based on the diagnostic tool used.
• The Timed Up-to-Go (TUG) and Gait Speed (GS) tests are proposed as reliable, rapid, and simple early predictors of frailty in PHC.
• These findings support the use of TUG and GS for early frailty detection in Primary Health Care settings.