Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41006548›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

Population-based validation of a frailty index using electronic regional healthcare records for public health use.

Paola Rebora, Giuseppe Occhino, Giuseppe Bellelli, Olivia Leoni, Silvano Casazza, Maria Grazia Valsecchi, Stefania Galimberti, Carlo Alberto Scirè

Abstract readValidation Study
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing 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

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

  1. Pooled it
  2. Relative impact of multidomain lifestyle interventions on deficit accumulation frailty over 24 months in the U.S. POINTER trial.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2026
    Trial
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

8 authors.

Paola ReboraBicocca Center of Bioinformatics, Biostatistics and Bioimaging (B4 Center), School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy.
Giuseppe OcchinoBicocca Center of Bioinformatics, Biostatistics and Bioimaging (B4 Center), School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy. giuseppe.occhino@unimib.it.
Giuseppe BellelliSchool of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy.
Olivia LeoniDirezione Generale Welfare, Regione Lombardia, Milan, Italy.
Silvano CasazzaFondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy.
Maria Grazia ValsecchiBicocca Center of Bioinformatics, Biostatistics and Bioimaging (B4 Center), School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy.
Stefania GalimbertiBicocca Center of Bioinformatics, Biostatistics and Bioimaging (B4 Center), School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy.
Carlo Alberto ScirèSchool of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy.

Funding

NextGenerationEU PNRR-MAD-2022-12376033
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Frailty indices derived from electronic health records offer an efficient approach to identify vulnerable individuals in the general population. We aimed to validate the electronic-regional healthcare database frailty index (e-RHD-FI) in the general adult population, describe its distribution by sex and age, evaluate its predictive validity for mortality, hospitalization and fragility fractures, and assess the performance of frailty cut-off points. We conducted a population-based study of 8,404,004 adult beneficiaries of the Lombardy Regional Health System. The e-RHD-FI was calculated from 40 health deficits using electronic health records from 2008 to 2018. We assessed its distribution, predictive validity for 1-year mortality, hospitalizations and fragility fractures through multi-state analysis and multivariable models evaluating performance across subgroups. The e-RHD-FI distribution was highly asymmetrical (median 0.0125, first-third quartiles 0-0.0375), with 45.8% of adults having no deficits. The index was higher in older adults. Each 0.1-point increment in e-RHD-FI was associated with doubled 1-year mortality risk (HR 2.12, 99% CI 2.11-2.14), 2.5-fold increased hospitalization rate (IRR 2.51, 99% CI 2.49-2.53), and a 55% higher risk of fragility fracture (HR 1.55, 99% CI 1.53-1.57). The AUC for 1-year mortality was 0.883 (99% CI 0.881-0.884). The e-RHD-FI demonstrates strong predictive validity for adverse outcomes in the general population and can effectively identify at-risk individuals for targeted interventions.

Indexed as

Electronic Health RecordsFrailtyPublic HealthAdultAgedAged, 80 and overDatabases, FactualFemaleHospitalizationHumansItalyMaleMiddle AgedElectronic health recordsFrailty indexHospitalizationsMortalityPrediction

Identifiers

PMID41006548
PMCPMC12475065

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.