Groningen Frailty Indicator
- Administration time: 5 minutes
- Relies on self-report only
- Multidimensional assessment
Mobility
1. Is the patient able to carry out these tasks single-handedly and without any help? (Click activities that the patient is unable to perform independently; the use of help resources, such as walking stick, walking frame, and wheelchair, is considered independent)
Physical fitness
-
2. What mark does the patient give himself/herself for physical fitness? (scale 0 to 10)
Vision
-
3. Does the patient experience problems in daily life due to poor vision?
Hearing
-
4. Does the patient experience problems in daily life due being hard of hearing?
Nourishment
-
5. During the last 6 months has the patient lost a lot of weight unwillingly?
( > 3 kg in 1 month or > 6 kg in 2 months)
Morbidity
-
6. Does the patient take 4 or more different types of medicine?
Cognition
-
7. Does the patient have any complaints about his/her memory or is the patient known to have a dementia syndrome?
Psychosocial components
-
8. Does the patient sometimes experience an emptiness around him/her?
-
9. Does the patient sometimes miss people around him/her?
-
10. Does the patient sometimes feel abandoned?
-
11. Has the patient recently felt downhearted or sad?
-
12. Does the patient sometimes felt nervous or anxious?
| Score | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| 0-3 | Non-frail |
| 4-15 | Frail |
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.
Key references
- Steverink N, Slaets JPJ, Schuurmans H, van Lis M. Measuring frailty: Development and testing of the Groningen Frailty Indicator (GFI). Gerontologist. 2001;41(special issue 1):236–237.
- Schuurmans H, Steverink N, Lindenberg S, Frieswijk N, Slaets JP. Old or frail: what tells us more? J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2004 Sep;59(9):M962-5. doi: 10.1093/gerona/59.9.m962. PMID: 15472162.
- Bielderman A, van der Schans CP, van Lieshout MR, de Greef MH, Boersma F, Krijnen WP, Steverink N. Multidimensional structure of the Groningen Frailty Indicator in community-dwelling older people. BMC Geriatr. 2013 Aug 22;13:86. doi: 10.1186/1471-2318-13-86. PMID: 23968433; PMCID: PMC3766248.