Screenen op kwetsbaarheid bij ouderen in het Deventer Ziekenhuis : Tilburg Frailty Indicator versus Veiligheidsmanagementsysteem screeningsbundel ‘kwetsbare ouderen’

Background: Due to aging of the population, early detection of frailty in hospitalised elderly and taking preventive meassures to prevent functional decline becomes more important. The best way to identify frailty in the elderly has not yet been determined. Objectives: The objective of this prospective observational patientstudy is to determine how to best identify frailty in the elderly in a hospital setting, this by comparing the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI) and the ‘Veiligheidsmanagementsysteem’ (VMS) screeninglist ‘kwetsbare ouderen’. Methods: A total of 795 patients older than 70 were screened when admitted at the hospital using both methods of identifying frailty. With the use of multivariate regression the predictive value of frailty was determined with 3 parameters; length of hospitalstay, complications while admitted, the impossibillity to return home after admission. Results: Length of hospitalstay was only predicted by frailty as determined by the VMS screeningmethod (coëfficiënt: 1.760, p:0.003). Frailty as determined by both the TFI (p:0.000, OR:2.091) and the VMS screeningmethod (p:0,000 en OR:3.913) had a predictive value for getting a complication while admitted. Both the TFI (p:0.000, OR:2.258) and the VMS screeningmethod (p:0,000 en OR:1.991) had a predictive value for the impossibilty to return home after admission. Conclusions: The VMS screeningmethod is a better screeningmethod for identifying frailty in the elderly in a hospital setting, because the VMS screeningsmethod has a predictive value for all three parameters and the TFI just for two out of three.