ArticleThe Journal of frailty & aging2026
Components and classification of frailty and palliative care.
Article in The Journal of frailty & aging, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGlobally, the number of people aged 65 years and older is expected to double by 2050. With increasing age, the risk of frailty and the need for palliative care also rise. A shared understanding of how to assess frailty and determine the need for palliative care could support interprofessional collaboration in clinical practice. The transition from a frail condition to palliative care is a dynamic and individualized process. Although frailty and palliative care are distinct concepts, they may overlap. The present study aimed to examine the components of frailty and palliative care in community-dwelling older people. Early recognition by healthcare professionals of the components that contribute to severe frailty can enable the timely initiation of palliative care. Our second aim was to gain insight into whether an individual should be classified as frail or in need of palliative care according to healthcare professionals.
methodsWe presented fifteen case studies to respondents who were selected based on their specific expertise in the Netherlands and Belgium. Each respondent was asked to identify, for each case study, the components that indicated frailty, palliative care needs, or both. Additionally, they were asked to rate their level of certainty regarding each indication. Wilcoxon tests were employed to assess differences, and regression analyses were conducted to identify the components most strongly associated with frailty and in need of palliative care.
resultsIn most cases, differences were observed between the identification of frailty and palliative care needs, with par-ticipants indicating that a patient could exhibit components of frailty without necessarily having palliative care needs (p-value < 0.05). In no case were palliative components recognized with greater certainty than components of frailty. The case in our study with the highest certainty score for frailty components showed a significant difference compared to the corresponding certainty score for palliative care needs. Conversely, the case with the highest certainty score for palliative care needs did not differ significantly from the certainty score for frailty components.
conclusionsOur study showed that healthcare professionals use different components to classify individuals as frail or in need of palliative care. In addition, these professionals were more certain in identifying frailty than in identifying palliative care needs, and may be less likely to recognize palliative care needs in their patients, who may already be quite frail. Improved understanding of the progression from frailty to the need for palliative care may support patient-centered care and increase enhance the quality of life for individuals requiring support.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.