Instruments to assess functional capacity and the presence of frailty in older people

BACKGROUNDThe evaluation of functional capacity and the presence of frailty is an essential prognostic indicator in older people.AIMTo explore the instruments used to characterize the intrinsic functional capacity (CFI) and frailty in elderly people cared at Primary Health Care Centers (PHC) in Chile.MATERIAL AND METHODSA narrative review of national and international scientific literature was carried out, including observational studies published in Pubmed (since 2015) and Scielo (since 2010) about tools to assess CFI or frailty. Studies in English or Spanish carried out in Chilean beneficiaries of PHC aged 60 years and over, were included.RESULTSAfter the first search, 110 articles were selected in Pubmed and 86 in Scielo. According to the relevance of the title and abstract, 36 articles were preliminarily screened, of which 25 were selected for full reading, 12 of which were finally included in this review. In Chile, the main instrument used to assess CFI is the Functional Examination of the Elderly (EFAM). There are few national studies to assess frailty and the instruments used are mainly based on the Fried criteria and the FTI (Frailty Tilburg Indicator). The reviewed studies suggest improving the coverage and reconsidering the predictive capacity of the measurements used for the assessment of CFI and frailty in older people, suggesting the incorporation of handgrip strength as a predictor of frailty.CONCLUSIONSThe main instruments to assess CFI and frailty in older people cared in PHC in Chile are the EFAM, and the Fried and FTI criteria, respectively.