Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40088041›Full record

ArticleJournal of the American Geriatrics Society2025

The Implementation of Frailty Assessment Tools in the Acute Care Setting: A Scoping Review.

Harneet Hothi, Arianna R Paolone, Matteen Pezeshki, Lauren E Griffith, Courtney C Kennedy, Darryl P Leong, Maura Marcucci, Alexandra Papaioannou, Justin Lee

Abstract readScoping Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–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

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

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. 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

9 authors.

Harneet HothiTemerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Arianna R PaoloneCentre for Integrated Care, St. Joseph's Health System, Hamilton, Canada.
Matteen PezeshkiCentre for Integrated Care, St. Joseph's Health System, Hamilton, Canada.
Lauren E GriffithDepartment of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-2794-9692
Courtney C KennedyDepartment of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Darryl P LeongDepartment of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Maura MarcucciDepartment of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Alexandra PapaioannouMcMaster Institute for Research on Aging, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Justin LeeCentre for Integrated Care, St. Joseph's Health System, Hamilton, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFrailty is a syndrome of increased vulnerability to health stressors that is associated with adverse health outcomes. There is no universally accepted method of measuring frailty, and choosing among the many tools is often confusing for clinicians. Moreover, the acute care setting presents unique challenges to the operationalization of frailty measurement, and implementation into daily clinical practice has been variable. The objective of this scoping review was to map out and synthesize how frailty is being measured and used in the acute care setting.

methodsWe used Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework for scoping reviews. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar for primary studies assessing frailty in the acute care setting from inception to May 2023.

resultsOur search resulted in 8834 articles, of which 2554 met inclusion criteria. Most articles (75%) were published in the last 5 years. The top three most frequently used methods of frailty measurement were the Frailty Index (41.0%), the Clinical Frailty Scale (23.3%), and the Fried Frailty Phenotype (9.3%). More than one frailty assessment tool was used in 11.2% of studies. While 99.6% of studies measured frailty assessment to evaluate the association of frailty with adverse outcomes or the validity of specific frailty tools, only 0.4% measured frailty to prospectively adapt healthcare provision.

conclusionThere is an abundance of evidence demonstrating that frailty in acute care is associated with adverse health outcomes, with relatively scarce evidence on the effect of frailty assessment on prospectively adapting care. Future research focusing on the prospective management of frailty in acute care is needed.

Indexed as

Frail ElderlyFrailtyGeriatric AssessmentAgedAged, 80 and overHumansacute carefrailtyfrailty assessment

Identifiers

PMID40088041
PMCPMC12396172

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.