FRAILTOOLS: A comprehensive validation of tools to screen and diagnose frailty in different clinical and social settings to provide instruments for integrated care in older adults

ended

There is a proved strong evidence of the usefulness of frailty as a predictive factor of relevant undesired outcomes in populations of older adults. Several studies have been published showing the utility of the concept in improving the prognostic accuracy and the prediction of different risks (hospitalization, surgical and non-surgical complications, length of stay, death, incident disability, etc) in emergency departments, cardiac surgery, surgical patients and in patients with cardiovascular disease. These studies have placed the focus in assessing population risk, while the validation process for these instruments as diagnostic or screening tools has been usually neglected. FRAILTOOLS aims to assess the usefulness as screening and diagnosis tools of some selected instruments to detect frailty in both clinical (Hospital and Primary Care) and social (nursing homes) settings, providing diagnostic algorithms clinically sound. Target groups are all of those older adults at risk for frailty (pre-frail) plus those that are frail and are at risk for developing disability. According to the published prevalence of these two conditions, the target population concerned by this project represent around 40-50% of older people older than 65 and 60-70% of people older than 75. Once determined the best tools of screening and diagnosis in different settings of care, we will reach conclusions for this people wherever the level of care they need and currently use. The benefit will expand to the Health Systems and Social Care as it will provide validated instruments that are necessary to provide an appropriate care for older adults by means of a comprehensive, continued, coordinated and integrated care. FRAILTOOLS consortium involves 6 of the most renowned partners in research on ageing and frailty from Spain, UK, Italy, France and Poland, plus the support of a number of highly relevant collaborating stakeholders fully committed with the project.