Department of Palliative Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland.
Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Opole University of Technology, Opole, Poland.
Clin Interv Aging. 2020 May 19;15:683-690. doi: 10.2147/CIA.S250437. eCollection 2020.
Frailty is a geriatric syndrome that is usually considered as a set of physical deficits (unidimensional concept); however, it can also concern the psychological and social domains of human functioning (multidimensional concept). The FRAIL scale is a diagnostic tool which ascertains only physical frailty, whereas the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI) is a diagnostic instrument for multidimensional frailty. The study investigates if non-robust physical status and multidimensional frailty affect the same individuals and whether simultaneous employment of the FRAIL scale and TFI identifies specific subgroups of elderly people which require different interventions.
In this cross-sectional study, 1024 community dwelling elderly individuals at the age of 65 years or older (mean age 72.6 ± 6.3 years; range 65-93 years) were evaluated with the FRAIL scale and TFI.
According to the FRAIL scale, 52.9% of the subjects were physically non-robust, but according to TFI, 54.6% presented multidimensional frailty. These two diagnostic tools were concordant in their outcomes in 77.1% (ie, 42.3% of individuals were physically and multidimensionally frail but 34.8% were robust according to both two instruments); however, in 22.9% the outcomes were discordant. Consequently, by simultaneous employment of the FRAIL scale and TFI, four distinct functional categories have been distinguished: (i) non-robust physical status with multidimensional frailty, (ii) exclusive non-robust physical status, (iii) exclusive multidimensional frailty, and (iv) full robust status.
By applying simple physical and multidimensional frailty diagnostic tools, subgroups of elderly people may be identified that require specific management strategies to improve their functional status.
衰弱是一种老年综合征，通常被认为是一组身体缺陷（单一维度概念）；然而，它也可能涉及人类功能的心理和社会领域（多维概念）。FRAIL 量表是一种仅确定身体衰弱的诊断工具，而蒂尔堡衰弱指标（TFI）是一种多维衰弱的诊断工具。本研究旨在探讨非健壮的身体状况和多维衰弱是否影响同一人群，以及同时使用 FRAIL 量表和 TFI 是否能确定需要不同干预措施的特定老年人群亚组。
在这项横断面研究中，对 1024 名居住在社区的 65 岁及以上老年人（平均年龄 72.6±6.3 岁；范围 65-93 岁）进行了 FRAIL 量表和 TFI 的评估。
根据 FRAIL 量表，52.9%的受试者身体不健壮，但根据 TFI，54.6%的受试者存在多维衰弱。这两种诊断工具的结果在 77.1%（即 42.3%的个体身体和多维均衰弱，但 34.8%的个体根据两种工具均健壮）是一致的；然而，在 22.9%的情况下结果是不一致的。因此，通过同时使用 FRAIL 量表和 TFI，可以将四个不同的功能类别区分开来：（i）身体不健壮且存在多维衰弱，（ii）仅身体不健壮，（iii）仅多维衰弱，（iv）完全健壮。
通过应用简单的身体和多维衰弱诊断工具，可以确定需要特定管理策略来改善其功能状态的老年人群亚组。
