European Geriatric Medicine · Feb 26, 2025
Validation of the Frail-VIG frailty index in geriatric population with femur fracture
By Badosa-Collell G, Trullàs JC, Moreno C et al.
PURPOSE: Our aim is to analyse whether the Frail-VIG index (frailty index validated in the geriatric population) maintains its predictive capacity for mortality in geriatric patients with femur fracture (FF). METHODS: Observational prospective cohort study including patients over 65 years of age consecutively admitted for FF to a community hospital. Patients were classified according to their frailty degree into three groups: none/initial frailty (Frail-VIG index < 0.36), moderate frailty (Frail-VIG index: 0.36-0.50), and advanced frailty (Frail-VIG index > 0.50). The association between 12-month mortality and frailty was estimated in an adjusted Cox regression model and expressed as hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI). ROC curves were analysed to assess the prognostic capacity of Frail-VIG index. The reliability and feasibility were also assessed. RESULTS: 150 patients were included (78% women and mean age 88 years). Patients with advanced frailty had more geriatric syndromes and comorbidities and worse cognitive, emotional, and functional status. In-hospital and 30-day mortality were similar between the three groups. After 12 months of follow-up, all-cause mortality was higher in patients with moderate and advanced frailty with an adjusted HR (95% CI) of 3.1 (1.33-7.43; p = 0.009) and 3.93 (1.52-10.1; p = 0.005), respectively. The under the ROC curve area at 12 months was 0.71 (0.62-0.80). The intraclass correlation coefficient for reliability was 0.891 (0.804-0.891) and the feasibility showed a mean (SD) of 4.83 (1.39) min. CONCLUSION: The Frail-VIG index has a good predictive capacity for 12-month mortality in geriatric population with FF and also shows very good reliability and feasibility.