Validation and Screening Capacity of the European Portuguese Version of the SUNFRAIL Tool for Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Ana Filipa Cardoso, Elzbieta Bobrowicz-Campos, Luísa Teixeira-Santos, Daniela Cardoso, Filipa Couto and João Apóstolo
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Ana Filipa Cardoso: Health Sciences Research Unit, Nursing, Nursing School of Coimbra, Portugal Centre for Evidence-Based Practice, A Joanna Briggs Institute Centre of Excellence, 3004-011 Coimbra, Portugal
Elzbieta Bobrowicz-Campos: Centre of 20th Century Interdisciplinary Studies, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3000-115 Coimbra, Portugal
Luísa Teixeira-Santos: Health Sciences Research Unit, Nursing, Nursing School of Coimbra, 3004-011 Coimbra, Portugal
Daniela Cardoso: Health Sciences Research Unit, Nursing, Nursing School of Coimbra, Portugal Centre for Evidence-Based Practice, A Joanna Briggs Institute Centre of Excellence, 3004-011 Coimbra, Portugal
Filipa Couto: Alfena Hospital—Trofa Health Group, Health Sciences Research Unit, Nursing, Nursing School of Coimbra, 3000-232 Coimbra, Portugal
João Apóstolo: Health Sciences Research Unit, Nursing, Nursing School of Coimbra, Portugal Centre for Evidence-Based Practice, A Joanna Briggs Institute Centre of Excellence, 3004-011 Coimbra, Portugal

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-10

Abstract: Early detection of frailty may prevent or delay adverse health outcomes in community-dwelling older adults. In Portugal, there are currently no valid multidimensional frailty screening tools. SUNFRAIL is a user-friendly multidimensional tool for frailty screening that can be used in primary care. Aims: (i) to determine the validity and reliability of the European Portuguese version of the SUNFRAIL tool for use in community-dwelling older adults; (ii) to assess the screening capacity of this version of SUNFRAIL using Fried’s phenotypic model criteria for frailty as a reference test. Methods: Cross-sectional pilot study in a convenience sample of 128 community-dwelling older adults. Objective and subjective data were collected. Internal consistency, concurrent validity, sensitivity, and specificity (ROC curve analysis) were examined. Results: Internal consistency was low. Significant moderate to strong correlations were found between different domains and the total score. The differences between robust, pre-frail, and frail older adults were significant. SUNFRAIL was also correlated with multimorbidity. Sensitivity and specificity were satisfactory. Conclusions: The European Portuguese version of the SUNFRAIL tool is a promising frailty screening tool for community-dwelling older adults to be routinely used in clinical practice. However, more consistent results on its validity and reliability are needed to be used nationwide.

Keywords: SUNFRAIL; psychometric properties; screening tool; frailty; older adults (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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