Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30823874›Full record

ArticleBMC geriatrics2019

What do care home managers believe constitutes an 'assessment for frailty' of care home residents in North-West London? A survey.

David Sunkersing, Finbarr C Martin, Julie Reed, Maria Woringer, Derek Bell

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC geriatrics, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

David SunkersingNIHR CLAHRC North West London, 369 Fulham Road, London, SW10 9NH, UK. d.sunkersing@imperial.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0001-9010-1435
Finbarr C MartinKing's College London (Population Health Sciences), London, UK.
Julie ReedNIHR CLAHRC North West London, 369 Fulham Road, London, SW10 9NH, UK.
Maria WoringerDepartment of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, W6 8RP, London, UK.
Derek BellNIHR CLAHRC North West London, 369 Fulham Road, London, SW10 9NH, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFrail individuals are at risk of significant clinical deterioration if their frailty is not identified and managed appropriately. Research suggests that any interaction between an older person and a health or social care professional should include an assessment for frailty. Many older care home residents are frail when admitted, but we have little knowledge of whether or how this is assessed. The aim of this paper is to understand and establish the characteristics of the reported 'assessments for frailty' used in care homes with nursing (nursing homes) across North-West London. This will help understand what an 'assessment for frailty' of care home residents mean in practice in North-West London.

methodsTelephone contact was made with every Care Quality Commission (CQC) (independent regulator of health and adult social care in England) regulated nursing home across North-West London [n = 87]. An online survey was sent to all that expressed interest [n = 73]. The survey was developed through conversations with healthcare professionals, based on literature and tested with academics and clinicians. Survey responses were analysed using descriptive statistics. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for statistical analyses.

results24/73 nursing homes completed the survey (33%). Differences in the characteristics of reported 'assessments for frailty' across nursing homes were evident. Variation in high level domains assessed (physical, social, mental and environmental) was observed. Nurses were the most common professional group completing assessments for frailty, with documentation and storage being predominantly paper based. A statistically significant difference between the number of assessments used in corporate chain owned nursing homes (3.9) versus independently owned nursing homes (2.1) was observed (U = 21, p = .005).

conclusionsGreat variation existed in the characteristics of reported 'assessments for frailty' in nursing homes. Our study suggests that not all physical, social, mental and environmental domains of frailty are routinely assessed: it appears that frailty is still primarily viewed only in terms of physical health. The consequences of this could be severe for patients, staff and healthcare settings. Research illustrates that frailty is a broad, multifactorial health state and, as such, an overall 'assessment for frailty' should reflect this.

Indexed as

Homes for the AgedNursing HomesAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleFrailtyGeriatric AssessmentHealth SurveysHumansLondonMaleProfessional-Patient RelationsQuality of Health CareAssessmentsCare homesFrailtyLondonNursing homes

Identifiers

PMID30823874
PMCPMC6397475

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.