Waldon Mandy
Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Berkshire Health Care Foundation Trust.
Br J Community Nurs. 2018 Oct 2;23(10):482-494. doi: 10.12968/bjcn.2018.23.10.482.
Frailty is a term that presents many difficulties for policy makers and clinicians due to the lack of consensus in defining frailty in a way that meets the needs of older people. A principle-based concept analysis was used to examine the scientific literature across four perspectives: medicine, nursing, social sciences, and occupational and physiotherapy. The purpose was to identify the conceptual components of frailty as revealed by analysis of the literature, and to develop a theoretical definition of frailty. The findings exposed commonalities in implied meanings both within and across perspectives. The strengths of frailty as a concept are revealed in the implications for clinical practice and relevance to health professionals. The limitations reflect a concept that is still evolving and further research is recommended but this should not stop health professionals engaging in this process. The definition developed in this study will enhance existing knowledge and promote a shared understanding to unite different disciplines in recognising frailty as an important concept.
由于在以满足老年人需求的方式定义衰弱方面缺乏共识，“衰弱”一词给政策制定者和临床医生带来了诸多困难。本研究采用基于原则的概念分析方法，从医学、护理、社会科学以及职业治疗与物理治疗四个视角审视科学文献。目的是通过对文献的分析确定衰弱的概念组成部分，并形成衰弱的理论定义。研究结果揭示了不同视角内部及之间隐含意义的共性。衰弱作为一个概念的优势体现在对临床实践的启示以及与健康专业人员的相关性上。其局限性反映出这一概念仍在演变，建议进一步开展研究，但这不应阻碍健康专业人员参与这一过程。本研究中形成的定义将增进现有知识，并促进达成共同理解，以联合不同学科认识到衰弱是一个重要概念。
