Identification of frailty by the use of the SEGAm scale (part A) in geriatrical consultation.

UNLABELLED

At present, it is recognized that screening for frailty in the elderly is a major public health issue. Numerous scales have emerged for the purpose of detecting/measuring frailty.

METHODS

A prospective, observational study was performed in subjects aged over 75 years, coming from the first neuro-geriatric consultation, from July 3, 2017 to August 18, 2017, included in the CHU Rouen, and benefiting from frailty screening through the use of the grid SEGAm (part A); this correlated with the subjective opinion of the nurse.

RESULTS

58 patients were included, with an average age of 82.1±3.87 (extreme age: 75-95) and a slight female predominance (37 subjects, 63.8%). The mean Charlson score was 2.31±1.75. Home helpers were present for 34 patients. The elderly were in a couple for 35 patients. The mean weight of the series is 74.5±14.67. The mean BMI of the series is 26.85±4.79. The mean MMSE score is 22.8±3.28. Non-frail elderly subjects, according to the SEGAm scale, represent 45 patients, while the frail elderly represent 13 patients (22.4%). The average SEGAm score is 6.3±3.59. SEGAm achievement time is about 6.2 min. According to the feeling of the nursing team, 36 elderly patients (62%) were not frail, 15 elderly patients (26%) were frail, while 7 elderly patients were very frail (12%). Cohen's kappa was estimated at 0.56 (IC95: 0.33-0.79). Thus the agreement, according to Cohen's kappa, is estimated as average.

CONCLUSION

The SEGAm score appears to be a suitable outpatient score. It is easy to use, allows an overall assessment of the patient and is not time consuming. The objective of this work is to be able to develop at best frailty consultations or even a day hospital, the real objective of the main hospitals.