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Review
. 2022 Nov 30;19(23):16050.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph192316050.

Assessment Tools of Biopsychosocial Frailty Dimensions in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Narrative Review

Vincenzo De Luca  1 , Grazia Daniela Femminella  2 , Roberta Patalano  3 , Valeria Formosa  4 , Grazia Lorusso  4 , Cristiano Rivetta  4 , Federica Di Lullo  4 , Lorenzo Mercurio  1 , Teresa Rea  1 , Elena Salvatore  5 , Nilufer Korkmaz Yaylagul  6 , Joao Apostolo  7 , Rosa Carla Silva  7 , Carina Dantas  8 , Willeke H van Staalduinen  9 , Giuseppe Liotta  10 , Guido Iaccarino  5 , Maria Triassi  1 , Maddalena Illario  1
Affiliations
Review

Assessment Tools of Biopsychosocial Frailty Dimensions in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Narrative Review

Vincenzo De Luca et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Frailty is a complex interplay between several factors, including physiological changes in ageing, multimorbidities, malnutrition, living environment, genetics, and lifestyle. Early screening for frailty risk factors in community-dwelling older people allows for preventive interventions on the clinical and social determinants of frailty, which allows adverse events to be avoided. By conducting a narrative review of the literature employing the International Narrative Systematic Assessment tool, the authors aimed to develop an updated framework for the main measurement tools to assess frailty risks in older adults, paying attention to use in the community and primary care settings. This search focused on the biopsychosocial domains of frailty that are covered in the SUNFRAIL tool. The study selected 178 reviews (polypharmacy: 20; nutrition: 13; physical activity: 74; medical visits: 0; falls: 39; cognitive decline: 12; loneliness: 15; social support: 5; economic constraints: 0) published between January 2010 and December 2021. Within the selected reviews, 123 assessment tools were identified (polypharmacy: 15; nutrition: 15; physical activity: 25; medical visits: 0; falls: 26; cognitive decline: 18; loneliness: 9; social support: 15; economic constraints: 0). The narrative review allowed us to evaluate assessment tools of frailty domains to be adopted for multidimensional health promotion and prevention interventions in community and primary care.

Keywords: active and healthy ageing; community-dwelling older adults; digital health; frailty; frailty prevention; frailty risk factors; integrated care; screening tools.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The SUNFRAIL screening tool.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Process of study selection for polypharmacy domain.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Process of study selection for nutrition domain.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Process of study selection for physical activity domain.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Process of study selection for assessment of adherence to medical visits.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Process of study selection for fall risk assessment.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Process of study selection for the assessment of cognitive decline.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Process of study selection for the assessment of loneliness.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Process of study selection for social support domain.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Process of study selection for assessment of economic constraints.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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