Frailty

Background

• Frailty: Syndrome of physiological decline in late life, characterized by marked vulnerability to adverse health outcomes
• Functional status: Ability to perform activities necessary in daily life (ADL)
• Pts should be encouraged to exercise as tolerated, with a low threshold to refer to PT/OT

Evaluation

• Order Vitamin D & B-12 levels
• Vulnerable Elders Scale-13: Identifies community dwelling pts at risk for decline over 5 yrs
• Fried Frailty Tool: Identifies frailty in community dwelling elders (1 -2 = prefrail; > 3 = frail)
  • Fatigue:  are you Fatigued?
  • Resistance: are you unable to climb a flight of stairs?
  • Aerobic: are you unbale to walk a block ?
  • Illness: Do you have more than 5 illnesses ?
  • Loss: Have you lost more than 5% of weight in 6 months?

​​​​​​​