Frailty index does anyone know anything about it.

[notacooldad]

I've just noticed on my health records I'm recorded as 0.139.
I didn't know I'd been tested or assessed. I haven't been to the doctors for a while.
What does it mean? I've googled but I'm still not clear what it's about and what the score means.
Also I'm 59 and female if that's relevant.

Never heard of it but I’m not medical

The score determines whether a person is considered: • Fit (a score below 0.12) • Mildly frail (0.12 to 0.24) • Moderately frail (0.24 to 0.36) or • Severely frail (0.36 and above). This can be calculated for an individual or for a whole GP practice population^

But I also found a different scale from 0-9 so it may be entirely dependent om who calculated it and by what method.

So I'm moderately frail😮
I'm not sure how.
My bloods are good
No health issues
I'm active and flexible.
Strange!

There are lots of different frailty indexes so depends which ones has been used.

On the Edmonton frail scale 0-5 is not frail.
You shouldn't need to be "scaled" if you don't have health issues and it's clearly only on biometrics rather than physical abilities or your perceptions.
I wouldn't give it a second thought if you don't have any concerns.

GP notes automatically calculate it based on conditions coded in your notes.

The 0 to 9 one is different as it's done by an actual assessment.

Anything done just by looking at coding can through up some random results depending on how good the coding was.

No you are (according to that value) mildly frail - only just. 0.139 falls between 0.12-0.24

It seems a very precise measurement though, doesn't it! I wouldn't be too worried if you have no health issues.

@CrunchyCarrot
Ah, yes, I am 'mildly frail'!
But still!!!🤣

Odd. This came up for me yesterday.
I am a 3 on a Johns Hopkins adjusted clinical score. What does this actually mean?

I am 51, BMI around 20, so not overweight. I am fit (I can run a sub 2 hour half marathon). I eat a balanced diet, do not smoke and do not drink to excess. Other than taking HRT, which I don't really consider a health issue, I am not on medications and cannot recall the last time I was unwell it is so long ago. In many ways, I am the 'perfect' patient. I also have private health cover, so not likely to cost the NHS anything any time soon.

Yet, 3 seems to suggest I am not in great health and likely to need intervention soon, from what I found via Google.

Hmmm... so according to the Johns Hopkins assessment calculator, the criteria looked at to determine frailty are:

Unintentional weight loss, exhaustion, low energy expenditure, low grip strength, and/or slowed walking speed.

Scores of 3,4 or 5 indicate frailty; 1 or 2 indicates pre-frailty and 0 is robust health.

Have you been tested for or asked about any of those indicators?

Some systems like EFI are calculated by the computer system automatically based on e.g. age, diagnoses and interventions. This is embedded in the computer system and can be very inaccurate, but it helps clinicians to identify who might be frail or at risk of frailty, which is a syndrome and not a specific thing.

Others like the Rockwood Scoring system require someone to assess you and make a judgement as to which score you are. It’s only ever a rough guide and is only to help people who are likely to need extra help which might be medical but often social.

It’s never an insult, although one might be offended by being identified as having a level of frailty. And the scoring systems are a crude tool and no one fits neatly into a box like that, but in my experience in my healthcare job, any risk of offence is far outweighed by the stratification of patients by these scoring systems to find who needs access to available services the most out of all the thousands of patients out there.

These answers demonstrate why such scales should be stabdardised internationally.
Having said that, they've been trying to standardise pressure damage risk scores and grading for donkey's years, yet variations still are live and kicking!

I only saw it there for the first time yesterday. I have not been tested in any shape or form. I think by most objective measures I am in robust health!

Seems like an error, doesn't it! Which in itself is also worrying!

I've never even heard of it until this thread.

@DrJonesIpresume
I hadn't heard if it either until this morning. I just went on yo myGp app and looked at my profile.

@notacooldad yours is definitely an auto generated one, so please don’t take it personally!

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=ihub.scot/media/5948/e-frailty-index-brief-guide.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiYrNTToe2FAxUmQEEAHTgxC70QFnoECA0QBg&usg=AOvVaw29NTpG2wJBWtB0DSNp9iRZ

Looks like you tick 5/36 boxes on here.

Interesting. I'd hope that one's frailty index updates according to one's latest results and doesn't just keep accumulating negative things. For example, I was anaemic at the end of last year, which would be a 'deficit' according to that index, but now am no longer anaemic. I would hope that would be reflected in any frailty score I have.

Interesting they mention thyroid disease, that is so often overlooked, am amazed to see it!