Assessing the reliability and feasibility of frailty screening tools among hospitalised older adults

Abstract

Background: The 29-item Frail-Physical, Psychological and Social (Frail-PPS) and the 14-item Frailty Assessment Measure (FAM) were developed in Singapore to identify risk of frailty among community dwelling older adults and validated for use among hospitalised older adults. Objectives: This study aimed to establish the interrater reliability and feasibility of the two screening tools ‒ FAM and Frail-PPS, for assessing frailty among hospitalized older adults. Methods: The FAM and Frail-PPS were administered during the initial nursing assessment by nurses to 62 patients aged 65 years and older within 24 h of admission. Interrater reliability, convergent validity and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were established. Feasibility was determined by the time of administration. Results: ICCs for Frail-PPS and FAM were 0.95 and 0.95 respectively. A positive correlation was established (r = 0.97). The administration time for Frail-PPS averaged 6.7 min, and 3.3 min for FAM. Conclusions: The FAM, with its high reliability and convergent validity, as well as shorter administration time, may be the preferred screening tool for use in acute care settings.