Italian surveys can measure frailty in older adults
An observational comparison of four surveys of people aged 65 and older in Italy found practical ways to assess physical, psychological and social frailty.
Limit: Validation health criteria overlapped with frailty scale items in the income and living conditions survey
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In an observational study of people aged 65 and older living in Italy, researchers reconstructed three frailty measures from four population surveys. The samples included 2,825 respondents in a 2022 aging survey, 13,719 in the 2019 European Health Interview Survey, 15,462 in a 2022 income and living conditions survey, and 10,991 in a 2022 daily-life survey.
The measures covered physical, psychological and social frailty. The Groningen Frailty Indicator was the easiest to reconstruct across surveys. The Edmonton Frail Scale performed best in tests linking frailty scores to health outcomes. The European Health Interview Survey was the most suitable data source overall. In that survey, frailty added information about health outcomes beyond age, sex and education. Southern regions generally had higher proportions of people classified as frail than northern regions.
Why it matters
As populations age, public health planners need ways to assess needs beyond chronological age. The authors propose using existing surveys for national frailty monitoring and more equitable planning.
Caveats
The measures were reconstructed from available survey questions, and some health criteria used to judge performance in the income and living conditions survey were also scale items. The findings concern adults aged 65 and older in Italy.
The paper
Bocconi University; University of Pavia
European Journal of Public Health, Jun 10, 2026, Open access
