Clinical Frailty Scale
- Administration time: 3 minutes
- Relies on clinical judgment
- Applies to various clinical settings (inpatient, outpatient, emergency department, and specialty clinics)
* Items marked with a star (*) must be completely assessed.
Is your patient terminally ill?*
Yes
No
Basic Activities of Daily Living (BADLs)*
Could your patient...
No, unable to do OR can only do with help from another person
Yes, without help from another person
Dress and undress yourself (including putting on socks and shoes)?
...Eat?
...Walk?
...Get in and out of bed?
...Take a bath or shower?
Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs)*
Could your patient...
No, unable to do OR can only do with help from another person
Yes, without help from another person
Use the telephone including looking up numbers and dialing?
Go shopping for groceries or clothes?
Prepare your own meals (including planning and cooking full meals)?
Do your housework (including heavy housework)?
Take your own medicine (including preparing it and taking the right dose at
the right
time)?
Handle your own money (including writing cheques and paying bills)?
Chronic Conditions*
Has a doctor ever told your patient that they have or had chronic health conditions
which are expected to last, or have already lasted, 6 months or more?
Emphysema, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease
(COPD), or chronic changes in lungs due to smoking
High blood pressure or hypertension
Diabetes, borderline diabetes, or high blood sugar
Heart disease (including congestive heart failure or CHF)
Angina (or chest pain due to heart disease), heart attack, or
myocardial
infarction
Cancer
Memory problem
Dementia or Alzheimer's disease
Osteoarthritis in the knee, hip or hands
Rheumatoid or other type of arthritis
Peripheral vascular disease or poor circulation in your limbs
Stroke or CVA (cerebrovascular accident)
Mini-stroke or TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack)
Parkinsonism or Parkinson's disease
Intestinal or stomach ulcers
Bowel disorder such as Crohn's Disease, ulcerative colitis, or
Irritable
Bowel Syndrome
Glaucoma
Macular degeneration
Osteoporosis, sometimes called low bone mineral density, or thin,
brittle, or weak bones
Back problems, excluding fibromyalgia and arthritis
Underactive thyroid gland (sometimes called hypothyroidism or
myxedema)
or overactive thyroid gland (sometimes called hyperthyroidism or Graves' disease)
Kidney disease or kidney failure
Other conditions
Self Report Questionare*
In general, would your patient say that their health is:
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor
In a typical week, how often does your patient feel that everything they
do
is
an effort?
Rarely or never (Less than 1 day)
Some of the time (1 to 2 days)
Occasionally (3 to 4 days)
All of the time (5 to 7 days)
In a typical week, how often does your patient engage in moderate or
strenuous
sports or recreational activities?
(such as dancing, golf without a cart, softball, jogging, swimming,
cycling, or other similar activities)
Never
Seldom (1 to 2 days)
Sometimes (3 to 4 days)
Often (5 to 7 days)
Frailty Index Crosswalk
Caution: The equipercentile linking method used to create this crosswalk assumes that different tools measure a similar construct (vulnerability). Because the equipercentile linking relies on the population distribution of frailty scores, frailty status may be misclassified at the individual patient level. Therefore, the crosswalk should be used as an approximation. It should not replace clinical judgment; it is intended to supplement, not substitute, professional expertise and clinical assessment.