How valid and useful is a locally-developed frailty tool for joint decision-making by patients, families and clinicians?

There are increasing numbers of elderly patients in New Zealand hospitals. An ageing population coupled with increasing financial constraints has heralded concern about future management and sustainability of the health system. Another dimension of this issue is the growing concern with how elderly patients are managed and treated in the end stages of their lives and whether the “bio-medicalisation” of the ageing process has now become routine. The context of an ageing population, limited finances, and an emerging bio-ethical field concerning elderly medical treatment, has created a need to understand what frailty looks like, how it can be measured, and whether this knowledge can help clinicians and patients arrive at informed treatment decisions. A frailty tool, Frail CHeC, was developed at a regional hospital. It aims to provide a quick method of assessing patients for frailty that is easily understood by clinicians and patients. Research was conducted to determine whether the Frail CHeC tool was valid and useable for patients, and clinicians. This thesis used a quantitative research approach by way of a descriptive survey method. Twelve clinicians were recruited to participate in the study. They conducted 60 Frail CHeC assessments between them. Each Frail CHeC tool had a survey that was completed by the clinician and the patient at the conclusion of the assessment. Results of the Frail CHeC tool and the accompanying survey were summarised and descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated. The results of the Frail CHeC assessment were stratified across age bands and gender and compared to established frailty tools. Both patients and clinicians had favourable views on the Frail CHeC tool. Views were assessed using a Likert scale of 1-5 with one representing strongly disagree and five representing strongly agree. The mean score for whether the Frail CHeC tool results were a good representation of the patient’s level of frailty and health were 4.48 for clinicians and 4.24 for patients. The mean score for whether the assessment was a good use of time was 4.39 for clinicians and 4.13 for patients. The mean time to complete the Frail CHeC assessment was 33 minutes with doctors completing the assessment quicker than other professional groups.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Health Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Eastern Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Duffus, Benjamin

• New Zealand
• older people
• clinicians
• frailty
• frailty tools
• Frail CHeC

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10652/6351

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:null:10652/6351