Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39953427›Full record

ArticleBMC public health2025

Development and validation of a generalizable electronic frailty index: a prospective study in China.

Qian Li, Ying Pan, Jian Shao, Yuefei Li, Fei Chen, Jing Wang, Yang Liu, Zhaoxu Geng, Peng Wu, Zijian Tian and 11 more

Abstract readValidation Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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1citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

21 authors.

Qian Li *College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Ying Pan *Affiliated Kunshan Hospital of Jiangsu University, Suzhou, China.
Jian Shao *Guangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou, China.
Yuefei LiThe Fifth People's Hospital of Chongqing, Chongqing, China.
Fei ChenPeking University First Hospital, Beijing, China.
Jing WangDepartment of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (BKV), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Yang LiuShanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Zhaoxu GengInstitute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Peng WuGuangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou, China.
Zijian TianInstitute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Tian XieGuangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou, China.
Shiteng GaoGuangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou, China.
Yuxuan DuGuangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou, China.
Yushan YueAffiliated Kunshan Hospital of Jiangsu University, Suzhou, China.
Kaiyun ZhouAffiliated Kunshan Hospital of Jiangsu University, Suzhou, China.
Ke LuAffiliated Kunshan Hospital of Jiangsu University, Suzhou, China.
Huyi FengThe Fifth People's Hospital of Chongqing, Chongqing, China.
Chong LiAffiliated Kunshan Hospital of Jiangsu University, Suzhou, China.
Qi PanBeijing Hospital, Beijing, China. panqi621@126.com.
Tao XuGuangzhou National Laboratory, Guangzhou, China. xu_tao@gzlab.ac.cn.
Kaixin ZhouGuangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China. zhoukx@ucas.ac.cn.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFrailty is a multidimensional geriatric syndrome recognized as a critical public health challenge in 771 million aging population worldwide. Although electronic frailty index (eFI) is successfully adopted for frailty screening in developed countries, such a tool is still absent in China. Furthermore, for facilitate early illness prevention, China offers annual physical examinations for the elderly which offers a potential opportunity for the early detection of frailty. This study aimed to develop a new eFI algorithm leveraging routinely collected healthcare data and validated it within both the development and an independent external cohort.

methodsIndividuals aged 65 or older from the development and external validation cohort were enrolled in this study. Data were extracted from the annual physical examinations and medical records. Based on the cumulative deficit model, a tailored eFI calculation algorithm was developed. The eFI's validity was assessed through correlation with the established FRAIL scale, and its predictive utility for hospitalization and mortality was prospectively evaluated.

resultsA set of 30 variables across 13 functional domains was selected to calculate the eFI. It demonstrated a strong correlation with the FRAIL scale (P < 0.001). In the development cohort, individuals categorized as prefrail and frail had higher (62% and 137% respectively) risk of hospitalization compared to the robust group. Regarding all-cause mortality, the risk was also higher (59% and 117% respectively) for prefrail and frail participants. Similar associations were observed in the external validation cohort.

conclusionUtilizing standardized healthcare records, this study successfully developed and validated an eFI algorithm that can offer a reliable and scalable tool for early frailty screening in China and populations with similar preventive physical examination data.

Indexed as

Frail ElderlyFrailtyGeriatric AssessmentAgedAged, 80 and overAlgorithmsChinaFemaleHospitalizationHumansMaleProspective StudiesReproducibility of ResultsAll-cause mortalityChinaElectronic frailty indexFRAIL scaleHospitalizationOlder adults

Identifiers

PMID39953427
PMCPMC11827203

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