Waller Amy, Coda Andrea, Carey Mariko, Davis Amy, Clapham Matthew
Aust J Prim Health. 2021 Jun 16. doi: 10.1071/PY20200.
Home care packages (HCPs) aim to support older people to remain in their homes for as long as possible. Early detection and management of frailty in community-dwelling older people may prevent or delay transfer to residential aged care. This suggests that it is important to establish mechanisms for identifying frailty among older adults. This study examined the feasibility of obtaining self-reported level of frailty from a sample of older adults receiving HCPs from an Australian aged care provider. The prevalence of frailty and sociodemographic and clinical correlates were assessed. Customers aged ≥65 years receiving an HCP from an aged care and disability service provider in New South Wales (n=158; 53.5% consent rate) completed a survey during their scheduled visit. The mean (±s.d.) total score on the Edmonton Frail Scale was 7.3±2.4 (range 1-13). The prevalence of frailty was 45% (5% 'severe frailty', 14% 'moderate frailty', 26% 'mild frailty'). Clients who had fallen in the past year had, on average, a 1.0-point higher frailty score (95% confidence interval 0.16-1.90) than those who had not. Given the high proportion of adults in our sample who were identified as frail, regular standardised assessments of frailty may assist community aged care providers to provide early intervention to reduce the risk of falls within this group of clients.
居家护理套餐（HCPs）旨在支持老年人尽可能长时间地居家生活。对社区居住的老年人进行衰弱的早期检测和管理，可能会预防或延缓其转入老年护理机构。这表明建立识别老年人衰弱的机制很重要。本研究探讨了从澳大利亚一家老年护理服务提供商接受居家护理套餐的老年人群体样本中获取自我报告的衰弱水平的可行性。评估了衰弱的患病率以及社会人口学和临床相关因素。年龄≥65岁且从新南威尔士州一家老年护理和残疾服务提供商接受居家护理套餐的客户（n = 158；同意率53.5%）在其预定探访期间完成了一项调查。埃德蒙顿衰弱量表的平均（±标准差）总分是7.3±2.4（范围1 - 13）。衰弱的患病率为45%（5%为“严重衰弱”，14%为“中度衰弱”，26%为“轻度衰弱”）。过去一年中跌倒过的客户，其衰弱得分平均比未跌倒过的客户高1.0分（95%置信区间0.16 - 1.90）。鉴于我们样本中被认定为衰弱的成年人比例较高，定期对衰弱进行标准化评估可能有助于社区老年护理服务提供商提供早期干预，以降低这类客户群体中的跌倒风险。
