Can laboratory test-based frailty indices contribute to frailty screening in emergency departments?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Laboratory-based frailty indices (FI-Labs) offer potential adjuncts and alternatives to clinical assessments. Still, their optimal configuration and construct validity compared with nurse-assessed Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) scores remain unclear.

Methods

In this retrospective cohort study, we evaluated five FI-Lab configurations against nurse-assessed CFS scores using data from 74 493 emergency department visits. We examined their association with clinical outcomes and assessed measurement reliability using mixed effects models.

Results

While nurse assessments demonstrated superior outcome discrimination (c-statistic 0.726 for 90-day mortality versus 0.718 for best FI-Lab), automated FI-Lab measures showed significantly greater between-visit reliability [

SUBMITTER: Logan Ellis H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12264206 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature