Development and validation of an Online Comprehensive Geriatric Screening (O-CGS) Tool

The healthcare landscape is undergoing a significant transformation through digitalization. Embracing digital technology presents an opportunity to enhance the health and well-being of older adults. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and evaluate the validity and usability of an online comprehensive geriatric screening (O-CGS) tool for intrinsic capacity declines.

Between September 2023 and September 2024, 381 community-dwelling Thai adults aged 55 and above were recruited at the health check-up clinic of a university hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, using convenience sampling. To evaluate the validity, all participants had completed an initial online self-administered assessment followed by face-to-face reference standard assessments. Sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy were reported.

Among 381 participants, the median age was 64.8 years, with 85% being female. The prevalence of geriatric syndromes ranged from 2.4% (frailty) to 50% (cognitive impairment). The sensitivity of the screening tool varied from 48% (for sarcopenia) to 100% (for depression), while specificity ranged from 54% (for fall risk) to 98% (for sarcopenia). Notably, the newly developed online cognitive screening tool demonstrated acceptable performance in detecting mild cognitive impairment and severe cognitive impairment, with a sensitivity of 61% and specificity of 63%. On average, participants spent 37 min completing the O-CGS. Additionally, participants reported high satisfaction with the tool, with a mean score of 4.4 out of 5.

This study demonstrated the satisfactory performance and feasibility of a self-administered O-CGS tool, aligning with the healthy aging concept.