Citation

O'Donoghue PJ, Claffey P, Rice C, Byrne L, Cunningham C, Kenny RA, Romero-Ortuno R. Eur. Geriatr. Med. 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1007/s41999-021-00509-0

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

PURPOSE: Identifying physical frailty is useful in the context of falls and syncope assessment. The phenotype-based SHARE Frailty Instrument for Primary Care (SHARE-FI) does not measure gait speed. We evaluated the association between SHARE-FI and gait speed in a Falls' and Syncope Unit (FASU).

METHODS: We recruited a pilot sample of patients aged 50 and over attending FASU between November 2019 and March 2020. The association between gait speed and SHARE-FI was assessed with the Spearman's co-efficient (r(s)). Logistic regression was conducted to investigate the association controlling for age, sex, body mass index, comorbidities and polypharmacy.

RESULTS: 104 participants were included (34 frail) median (IQR) age 74 (68-79) years. 68 were female. There was a significant negative correlation between frailty and gait speed (r(s) - 0.54, P < 0.001). In the multivariable model, gait speed remained independently associated with frailty (OR 0.09, 95% CI 0.02-0.52, P = 0.007).

CONCLUSIONS: SHARE-FI significantly captured gait speed in this clinical sample, adding to its validity.

Language: en