Development of Simple Diagnostic Criteria for Frailty Syndrome in Indian Elderly Population

Introduction Frailty; a lamenting geriatric giant, is slowly emerging as an epidemic worldwide with a rapid demographic shift. Despite extensive research in this field, defining the phenotype objectively has remained challenging and controversial. Fried et al Criteria, the most validated criteria has been successfully applied in the developed countries. However, it has significant shortcomings while being used in the developing world. Some of the components of the criteria rely too much on subjective assessment. Cultural differences, occupation and leisure time activity further dilute the accuracy of certain criteria like grip strength and weight loss. A new set of criteria is being mooted to increase reliability, validity and comprehensibility. This includes a set of major, minor as well as essential criteria. The validation of this new scale would help medical personnel to identify a frail patient at an early stage and enable timely intervention. Methodology A cross sectional study will be conducted in 2013 ? 2014 at a village located in North India (single visit). Around 300 elderly people (? 60 years) belonging to the local populace, would be assessed by a team of Geriatrician and other medical personnel. In addition to obtaining socio-demographic and health profile, a few investigations would be done with informed consent. Serum sample will be collected for assessing IL-6. Along with Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA), frailty will be assessed as per Linda Fried et al’s criteria as well as the New Indian criteria (By Chatterjee and Dey). Relevant statistical analysis would be done for validation Ethics and Dissemination The protocol has been approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of AIIMS. (Ref No- IEC/NP-350/2012) Funding National Programme for the Health Care for the Elderly, Government of India