International Journal of Circumpolar Health · Feb 17, 2026

Translating and testing feasibility and reliability of the Clinical Frailty Scale for assessing older adults in Greenland

By Fricke CH, Geisler P, Fleischer I et al.

The global population is ageing, contributing to an increase in frailty and increasing pressure on healthcare and rehabilitation systems. The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) may be used as a triage tool to guide important clinical decisions and to set goals for care. This study aimed to translate and test the inter-rater reliability and feasibility of CFS for Greenland (CFS-GL), including its relation to demographic factors. CFS-GL was developed under The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research guidelines (ISPOR) to ensure conceptual, cultural and linguistic equivalence with translation. The inter-rater reliability was tested using two independent Greenlandic healthcare professionals and a Danish healthcare professional. The data were evaluated using Cohen's kappa and ANOVA. CFS-GL was assessed among 169 participants with a median age of 73 years (interquartile range [IQR] 14). The participants' residences were scattered across Greenland. Inter-rater reliability was very high, with a combined Cohen's kappa of 0.98 (95% CI 0.97-0.99). The median CFS-GL score was 3.9. CFS-GL was associated with residential living, marital status, alcohol intake, outdoor activity, number of medications taken and chronic diseases but was only moderately associated with age. In conclusion, CFS-GL is now available and reliable for Greenland. Future contextual adaptations could improve CFS-GL by detailing Greenlandic activities.

doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2026.2631820Open accessPubMed 41703740Biomarkers