Table 1 Description and characteristics of the Frail-VIG index
From: Frail-VIG index: a concise frailty evaluation tool for rapid geriatric assessment
Domain | Variable | Description | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Functional | IADLs | Money management | Needs help managing financial matters (bank, shops, restaurants) | Yes | 1 |
No | 0 | ||||
Telephone use | Needs help using the telephone | Yes | 1 | ||
No | 0 | ||||
Medication management | Needs assistance in preparing or administering medications | Yes | 1 | ||
No | 0 | ||||
ADLs | Barthel index (BI) | No dependency (BI ≥ 95) | 0 | ||
Mild-moderate dependency (BI 90–65) | 1 | ||||
Moderate-severe dependency (BI 60–25) | 2 | ||||
Absolute dependency (BI ≤ 20) | 3 | ||||
Nutritional | Malnutrition | Weight loss ≥ 5% in the last 6 months | Yes | 1 | |
No | 0 | ||||
Cognitive | Degree of cognitive impairment | No cognitive impairment | 0 | ||
Mild-moderate cognitive impairment (equivalent to GDS ≤ 5) | 1 | ||||
Severe-very severe cognitive impairment (equivalent to GDS ≥ 6) | 2 | ||||
Emotional | Depressive syndrome | Need for antidepressant medication | Yes | 1 | |
No | 0 | ||||
Insomnia/anxiety | Frequent need for benzodiazepines or other psychiatric drugs with a sedative effect for insomnia/anxiety | Yes | 1 | ||
No | 0 | ||||
Social | Social vulnerability | Do health care professionals perceive the presence of social vulnerability? | Yes | 1 | |
No | 0 | ||||
Geriatric syndromes | Delirium | Presence of delirium and/or behaviour disorder requiring antipsychotic drugs in the last 6 months. | Yes | 1 | |
No | 0 | ||||
Falls | In the last 6 months , ≥2 falls or hospitalization due to a fall. | Yes | 1 | ||
No | 0 | ||||
Ulcers | Presence of ulcer (pressure or vascular, any grade) | Yes | 1 | ||
No | 0 | ||||
Polypharmacy | Taking ≥ 5 drugs | Yes | 1 | ||
No | 0 | ||||
Dysphagia | Difficulty swallowing when eating or drinking? Presence of aspiration respiratory infections during the last 6 months ? | Yes | 1 | ||
No | 0 | ||||
Severe symptoms | Pain | Need for ≥ 2 conventional analgesics and/or strong opioids for pain control | Yes | 1 | |
No | 0 | ||||
Dyspnea | Basal dyspnea impeding the ability to leave the house and/or opioids are frequently needed | Yes | 1 | ||
No | 0 | ||||
Diseases (+) | Cancer | Active cancer | Yes | 1 | |
No | 0 | ||||
Respiratory | Presence of any type of chronic respiratory disease (COPD, restrictive lung disease...) | Yes | 1 | ||
No | 0 | ||||
Cardiac | Presence of any type of chronic heart disease (heart failure, ischemic cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia) | Yes | 1 | ||
No | 0 | ||||
Neurological | Presence of any type of neurodegenerative disease (Parkinson, ALS,...) or a history of stroke (ischemic or hemorrhagic). | Yes | 1 | ||
No | 0 | ||||
Digestive | Presence of any type of chronic digestive disease (chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, chronic pancreatitis, inflammatory bowel disease,…) | Yes | 1 | ||
No | 0 | ||||
Renal | Presence of chronic renal failure (GFR < 60) | Yes | 1 | ||
No | 0 | ||||
Frail-VIG index = |
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