These data demonstrate the potential frailty of this approach, or at least indicate that careful attention is needed with regard to task counterbalancing, and when that is not possible (for example, in related encode-retrieve paradigms that are necessarily ordered), account is taken of potential bias in response estimation.
We experienced a high dropout rate, likely related to the age and potential frailty of many of our participants, which limited our analysis and contributed to the study being underpowered.
As a high dropout rate of up to 40%% could be expected due to the potential frailty of the participants, we decided to include 60 participants (30 people in each group).
Items and instruments were selected on the basis of available information on reliability and validity in the older population, successful use in comparable studies, and, given the potential frailty of some respondents, instrument brevity.
Combining these two concepts, we employed multidisciplinary consensus to select among a large number of potential frailty traits, and then examined associations with adverse events occurring more commonly in the elderly.
Our findings support the need for further research on the use of FEV1 as a predictor for important adverse outcomes and potential frailty marker in the very old adults and consideration as an indicator of overall health in geriatric assessments [ 1, 7].
In the above-mentioned longitudinal Mexican frailty study, after adjusting for potential confounders, frailty was found to be a predictor of incident mobility disability, and ADL and IADL disability [ 16].
From two pilots we learned that of three potential postal frailty measures, the COOP-WONCA charts were completed best by elderly and that preventive home visits by nurses were positively evaluated to have potential for quality of care improvement.
The potential for cognitive frailty as a separate therapeutic entity for future physical frailty prevention requires further research with a suitably powered study over a longer follow-up period.
Owing to the potential similarities in frailty between geriatric patients and critically ill patients, the concept of frailty in critical illness may have clinical relevance, be independently predictive of outcomes and show interaction with several factors, including illness severity, comorbid illness, and the social and structural environment.
