Assessment
8
Table 4. Tools to Detect Frailty
Assessment Tool Comments
Fried Score Well-established physical frailty tool based on data
from the Cardiovascular Health Study; oen seen as
a reference frame for studies of frailty in community-
dwelling older adults; requires 2 procedures/measures
(gait speed and grip strength) and answers to 3
questions (relating to weight loss, level of exhaustion,
and amount of physical activity); can identify
'prefrail' individuals (Fried LP, Tangen CM et al.
Frailty in older adults: Evidence for a phenotype.
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2001; 56(3): M146-
156).
Clinical Frailty Scale
Note: A larger 70-item assessment
tool called the Frailty Index is also
available.
Based on data from the Canadian Study of Health
& Aging ; 7-point scale; predictive of future events
including mortality; easy to employ in routine
clinical practice (Rockwood K, Song X et al. A
global clinical measure of fitness and frailty in elderly
people. CMAJ 2005; 173(5): 489-495).
FRAIL score Well-validated in multiple population groups;
sensitivity and specificity similar to that of the Fried
scale. Comprises only 5 questions (no procedures)
covering fatigue, climbing stairs, walking, number
of illnesses, and weight loss (Abellan van Kan G,
Rolland Y et al. e I.A.N.A Task Force on frailty
assessment of older people in clinical practice. J Nutr
Health Aging 2008; 12(1): 29-37).
Source: Sinclair AJ, Abdelhafiz A, Dunning T, Izquierdo M, Rodriguez Manas L, Bourdel-
Marchasson I, Morley JE, Munshi M, Woo J, Vellas B. An international position statement on the
management of frailty in diabetes mellitus: summary of recommendations 2017. J Frailty Aging
2018; 7:10-20.
