Sensor-Based Frailty Assessment in Survivors of Childhood Cancer: A Pilot Study

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Oncology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) experience accelerated aging and frailty.
• Current frailty assessment methods are time-intensive and require specialized training.
• There is a need for scalable, cost-effective frailty screening in adolescent and young adult (AYA) CCS.

Purpose of the Study:

• Validate a sensor-based frailty assessment tool for AYA CCS.
• Compare frailty levels between AYA CCS and controls.
• Correlate frailty with the number of comorbidities in AYA CCS.

Main Methods:

• Assessed Mean Frailty Index (MFI) using a wrist sensor in 32 AYA CCS and 32 controls.
• Conducted frailty assessments with and without a cognitive task.
• Analyzed MFI correlation with gait speed, radiation therapy exposure, and comorbidity count.

Main Results:

• AYA CCS showed higher pre-frailty rates than controls (p=0.032).
• Radiation therapy exposure significantly increased pre-frailty risk (p<0.001).
• MFI strongly correlated with comorbidity count (ρ=0.65, p<0.001).

Conclusions:

• Sensor-based frailty assessment is feasible for AYA CCS.
• CCS, particularly those with comorbidities or RT exposure, are at higher risk for frailty.
• This tool enables rapid, cost-effective screening for early intervention in at-risk AYA CCS.