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The Tilburg Frailty Indicator: A psychometric systematic review
Juan-José Zamora-Sánchez1, Ana-María Urpí-Fernández2, Meritxell Sastre-Rus3
1Gerència Territorial de Barcelona, Institut Català de la Salut, Barcelona, Spain; School of Nursing, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Ageing Research Reviews
|February 12, 2022
Summary
The Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI) shows moderate evidence for content validity but has gaps in other measurement properties. Further research is needed to improve its clinical decision-making utility.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Clinical Assessment
- Psychometrics
Background:
- The Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI) is a widely used multidimensional tool for assessing frailty.
- Understanding its measurement properties is crucial for reliable clinical application.
Purpose of the Study:
- To critically appraise and summarize the measurement properties of the TFI.
- To identify evidence gaps in the TFI's psychometric evaluation.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search of MEDLINE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO databases up to December 8, 2021.
- Inclusion of 63 studies evaluating TFI development or measurement properties.
- Assessment of methodological quality using COSMIN Risk of Bias and evidence quality using GRADE.
Main Results:
- Moderate evidence for TFI content validity; insufficient evidence for item comprehensiveness.
- Sufficient evidence for structural validity, but inconsistent results for construct validity.
- Inconsistent evidence for internal consistency and test-retest reliability; high concurrent validity with geriatric assessment; insufficient evidence for predictive validity and no studies on responsiveness.
Conclusions:
- Significant evidence gaps exist for several TFI measurement properties.
- Further research is required to enhance the TFI's utility as a clinical decision-making tool.
