Validation of the Comprehensive Frailty Assessment Instrument against the Tilburg Frailty Indicator - 08/05/13

Doi : 10.1016/j.eurger.2013.03.001

N. De Witte ^a,^b,^⁎ , R. Gobbens ^c,^d , L. De Donder ^e , S. Dury ^e , T. Buffel ^e , D. Verté ^e , J.M.G.A. Schols ^f
^a Faculty of Education, Health and Social Work, University College Ghent, Keramiekstraat 80, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
^b Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
^c Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
^d Department of Tranzo, Scientific Center for Care and Welfare, Tilburg University, PO Box 90153, 5000 Tilburg, The Netherlands
^e Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan, 2, 1050 Elsene, Brussels, Belgium
^f Department of General Practice and Department of Health Services Research Caphri, School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, Polvertorenstraat 4, 6211 LX Maastricht, The Netherlands

^*Corresponding author. Faculty of Education, Health and Social Work, University College Ghent, Keramiekstraat 80, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.

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Abstract

Purpose

Assessing the validity of the Comprehensive Frailty Assessment Instrument (CFAI) in comparison with the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI).

Background

When ageing, most individuals prefer to age in place even if they are frail. Detecting frail older persons in the community becomes a challenge for professionals and policymakers. Most international frailty instruments emphasize physical factors. The CFAI was developed from a multidimensional perspective, measuring a physical, a psychological, a social and an environmental domain and showed good validity and reliability. The novelty of the CFAI is the environmental domain, which is important because older people will highly depend on their environment when ageing in place. In this study, the CFAI is validated against the TFI.

Design

Scale validation study.

Methods

One hundred and seventy-eight respondents aged 60 and over participated in this study. Internal consistency and explained variance of the CFAI and the subscales was assessed. Next, the correlation between the two scales was evaluated. Convergent and divergent validity between the subscales of the CFAI and TFI was assessed.

Results

The internal consistency of the CFAI was 0.759. The correlation between the CFAI and TFI was 0.590. Correlations between the physical, psychological and social domains of both scales was good and the environmental domain showed weak correlations with all other domains, pointing to convergent and divergent validity.

Conclusion

The CFAI is found to be valid in comparison with the TFI and can be used by health care professionals for the detection of frail older people living in the community.

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Keywords : Community care, Elderly, Frail elderly, Validation studies