Yaşlılarda Kırılganlığı Ölçmeye Yönelik FRAİL Ölçeğinin Türkçe Geçerlik ve Güvenirlik Çalışması

Abstract

Frailty is a geriatric syndrome characterized by decreased physical activity and gait speed, weight loss, muscle power loss caused by cumulative decline in many physiological systems. This issue is of paramount importance as frail older adults suffer from increased mortality, morbidity and health expenditures when exposed to stress factors. In order to determine the frailty in patients, practical, validated and reliable scales are needed; the purpose of this study is to determine whether the FRAIL scale developed by Morley et al is an effective screening tool of frailty in the geriatric Turkish society. FRAIL scale consists of 5 items; fatigue state, resistance, mobility, weight loss, and existing diseases. FRAIL scale, Fried index, FIND scale, comprehensive geriatric assessment, Time-up-and-go-test, and handgrip dynamometer were performed on 85 outpatients aged >65 years without acute diseases or severe dementia. FRAIL scale was strongly correlated to FIND scale and Fried index (correlation coefficient of 0.956 and 0.934 respectively). It was also found to be related to ADL, IADL, MMSE, Yesavage test, MNA short test, Clock-drawing test, handgrip grip strength, and Time-up-and-go-test(p <0.05). Interrater and test-retest compliance were 100% (full compliance, Cronbach alpha coefficient 1.00). The frailty determined by the Fraile Scale was found to be related to female gender, age, weight loss, number of illnesses, number of medications used, number of falls, urinary incontinence, number of hospitalizations during the last year and clinical frailty score. In this study, the FRAIL scale has been proven to be a reliable and valid screening tool of frailty.