Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36346738›Full record

ArticleAge and ageing2022

Frailty change based on minimally important difference in nursing home residents: FIRST cohort study findings.

Mark Q Thompson, Agathe D Jadczak, Graeme R Tucker, Olga Theou, Renuka Visvanathan

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Age and ageing, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 37% of its field
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

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

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

5 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

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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 at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Mark Q ThompsonNational Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre of Research Excellence: Frailty and Healthy Ageing, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-6420-4294
Agathe D JadczakNational Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre of Research Excellence: Frailty and Healthy Ageing, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Graeme R TuckerNational Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre of Research Excellence: Frailty and Healthy Ageing, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Olga TheouNational Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre of Research Excellence: Frailty and Healthy Ageing, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Renuka VisvanathanNational Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre of Research Excellence: Frailty and Healthy Ageing, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
National Health and Medical Research Council · AUUniversity of Adelaide · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFrailty is common among residential aged care services (RACS) residents; however, little is known about how frailty changes over time in this population. This study aimed to estimate minimally important difference (MID) in frailty to then describe: frailty change over 12 months; and factors associated with worsening frailty.

methodsProspective cohort study across 12 RACS sites of a single aged care organisation in South Australia (n = 548 residents, mean age 87.7 ± 7.2 years, 72.6% female). Frailty was measured using a frailty index (FI) with 12 months between baseline and follow-up. MID was calculated cross-sectionally (anchor-based using self-reported health, and ½SD for distribution-based).

resultsBetween-person MID for the FI was identified as 0.037 (anchor-based) and 0.063 (distribution-based). Using the conservative value of 0.063 as the basis for change, 32.3% (n = 177) of residents remained stable, 13.7% (n = 75) improved, 33.0% (n = 181) worsened and 21.0% (n = 115) died over 12 months. In a multivariable analysis, significant predictors of the dichotomous outcome of worsening and death at 12 months were: being malnourished (odds ratio (OR) = 2.15, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.23, 3.75), at risk of malnutrition (OR = 1.98, 95%CI = 1.34, 2.91) and diabetes (OR = 1.61, 95%CI = 1.06, 2.42) compared to those who remained stable or improved.

conclusionsA 6.3% change in frailty for RACS residents is a conservative MID. Frailty is dynamic in RACS residents, and stability or improvement was possible even for the most-frail. Treatments such as nutritional interventions, exercise and diabetes management are likely to benefit frailty.

Indexed as

FrailtyMalnutritionAgedAged, 80 and overCohort StudiesFemaleFrail ElderlyGeriatric AssessmentHumansMaleNursing HomesProspective StudiesagedAustraliafrailtyminimally important differencenursing homeolder people

Identifiers

PMID36346738
PMCPMC9642811
OpenAlexW4308767359

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

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.