The study aimed to assess the reliability of the scores, evidence of validity, and feasibility of the Frail-VIG index. A validation study mixing hospitalized and community-dwelling older people was designed. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess the inter-rater agreement and the reliability. The construct validity of the Frail-VIG index with respect to the Frailty Phenotype (FP) was evaluated by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC). Convergent validity with the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) was assessed using Pearson’s correlation coefficients. The feasibility was evaluated by calculating the average time required to administer the Frail-VIG index and the percentage of unanswered responses. A sample of 527 older people (mean age of 81.61, 56.2% female) was included. The inter-rater agreement and test–retest reliability were very strong: 0.941 (95% CI, 0.890 to 0.969) and 0.976 (95% CI, 0.958 to 0.986), respectively. Results indicated adequate convergent validity of the Frail-VIG index with respect to the FP, AUC-ROC 0.704 (95% CI, 0.622 to 0.786), and a moderate to strong positive correlation between the Frail-VIG index and CFS (r = 0.635, 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.71). The Frail-VIG index administration required an average of 5.01 min, with only 0.34% of unanswered responses. The Frail-VIG index is a reliable, feasible, and valid instrument to assess the degree of frailty in hospitalized and community-dwelling older people.

No abstract

Background The Frail-VIG frailty index has been developed recently. It is an instrument with a multidimensional approach and a pragmatic purpose that allows rapid and efficient assessment of the degree of frailty in the context of clinical practice. Our aim was to investigate the convergent and discriminative validity of the Frail-VIG frailty index with regard to EQ-5D-3L value. Methods We carried out a cross-sectional study in two Primary Health Care (PHC) centres of the Catalan Institute of Health (Institut Català de la Salut), Barcelona (Spain) from February 2017 to January 2019. Participants in the study were all people included under a home care programme during the study period. No exclusion criteria were applied. We used the EQ-5D-3L to measure Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and the Frail-VIG index to measure frailty. Trained PHC nurses administered both instruments during face-to-face assessments in a participant’s home during usual care. The relationships between both instruments were examined using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression analyses. Results Four hundred and twelve participants were included in this study. Frail-VIG score and EQ-5D-3L value were negatively correlated (r = − 0.510; P < 0.001). Non-frail people reported a substantially better HRQoL than people with moderate and severe frailty. EQ-5D-3L value declined significantly as the Frail-VIG index score increased. Conclusions Frail-VIG index demonstrated a convergent validity with the EQ-5D-3L value. Its discriminative validity was optimal, as their scores showed an excellent capacity to differentiate between people with better and worse HRQoL. These findings provide additional pieces of evidence for construct validity of the Frail-VIG index.

Background Cardiac rehabilitation after acute myocardial infarction permits recovery of the heart function and enables secondary prevention programs in which changes in lifestyle habits are crucial. Cardiac rehabilitation often takes place in hospitals without coordination with primary healthcare and is not focused on individual patient preferences and goals, which is the core of the motivational interview. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a cardiac rehabilitation program with a motivational interview in patients discharged from hospital after acute myocardial infarction. Methods/design A randomized, non-pharmacological clinical trial in six primary healthcare centers in Barcelona (Spain) will assess whether a tailored cardiac rehabilitation program consisting of four motivational interviews and visits with family physicians, primary healthcare nurses and a cardiologist, coordinated with the reference hospital, results in better cardiac rehabilitation than standard care. A minimum sample of 284 participants requiring cardiac rehabilitation after acute myocardial infarction will be randomized to a cardiac rehabilitation group with a motivational interview program or to standard primary healthcare. The main outcome will be physical function measured by the six-minute walk test, and the secondary outcome will be the effectiveness of secondary prevention: a composite outcome comprising control of blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes mellitus, smoking and body weight. Results will be evaluated at 1,3 and 6 months. Discussion This is the first clinical trial to study the impact of a new primary healthcare cardiac rehabilitation program with motivational interviews for patients discharged from hospital after myocardial infarction. Changes in lifestyles and habits after myocardial infarction are a core element of secondary prevention and require patient-centered care strategies such as motivational interviews. Therefore, this study could clarify the impact of this approach on health indicators, such as functional capacity. Trial registration ClinicalTriasl.gov NCT05285969 registered on March 18, 2022.