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Development and validation of a frailty index based on data routinely collected across multiple domains in NSW hospitals
Author(s) -
Lo Sarita Y.,
Zhang Meggie,
Hubbard Ruth E.,
Gnjidic Danijela,
Redston Mitchell R.,
Hilmer Sarah N.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/ajag.12888
Subject(s) - cohort , polypharmacy , medicine , gerontology
Objective(s) To develop and validate a frailty index (FI) that covers multiple domains, using routine hospital data. To investigate the FI's validity, after excluding medication‐related items (FI‐ExMeds), for studies of frailty and polypharmacy. Methods A FI was derived from routine NSW hospital data following standard published guidance. In a development cohort (151 inpatients ≥ 70 years), the FI was correlated with the Reported Edmonton Frail Scale (REFS) using Pearson's R . Validity and distribution of FI and FI‐ExMeds, and correlation with each other, were evaluated in a validation cohort (999 inpatients ≥ 75 years). Results The mean FI for the development cohort was 0.27 (SD 0.09). The FI showed moderate linear correlation with the REFS (n = 148, R = 0.52, P < .001). In the validation cohort, mean FI (n = 993) and FI‐ExMeds (n = 990) were both 0.28 (SD 0.11). FI‐ExMeds showed high linear correlation with the FI (n = 990, R = 0.99, P < .001). Conclusion This multi‐domain FI is comparable to REFS, with adequate redundancy to exclude deficits for specific analyses.