Frailty in the elderly: screening possibilities in Primary Health Care

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Primary Health Care
• Clinical Assessment

Background:

• Frailty is a significant geriatric syndrome impacting health outcomes in the elderly.
• Effective screening tools are crucial for early identification and intervention in primary care settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate and compare the performance of two instruments for screening frailty in elderly individuals within a primary healthcare context.
• Assess the agreement and correlation between the Clinical-Functional Vulnerability Index 20 (CVI-20) and the Edmonton Frailty Scale (EFS).

Main Methods:

• An observational, cross-sectional study involving 396 elderly participants.
• Quantitative approach utilizing SPSS for statistical analysis.
• Employed the kappa coefficient to assess agreement and Spearman's correlation to measure the relationship between the CVI-20 and EFS.

Main Results:

• A moderate kappa coefficient (0.496) was observed between the CVI-20 and EFS, indicating fair agreement.
• A significant positive correlation (r = 0.77; p < 0.001) was found between the frailty status and the total scores of both instruments.
• The Edmonton Frailty Scale identified a higher prevalence of frailty compared to the CVI-20.

Conclusions:

• Both the CVI-20 and EFS demonstrate positive correlation and agreement for assessing frailty in the elderly.
• The Edmonton Frailty Scale appears to be more sensitive in identifying frailty cases within the studied primary healthcare population.
• Further research may refine the application of these tools in diverse primary care settings.