{"id":15544,"date":"2023-05-30T15:13:42","date_gmt":"2023-05-30T14:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/?page_id=15544"},"modified":"2025-06-02T14:58:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T13:58:26","slug":"frailty","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/medicineoftheelderlygeriatrics\/frailty\/","title":{"rendered":"Frailty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/Frailty_Information_Resource.pdf\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/scottish-my.sharepoint.com\/:b:\/g\/personal\/aparna_amanna_nhslothian_scot_nhs_uk\/ERfxdTzLxLVIhIkyCw87HkkBvJGAKkIhekvq67XJsQvseQ?e=wBfPg4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Frailty Information Resource<\/a>&amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/FRAILTY-POSTER.pdf\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/scottish-my.sharepoint.com\/:b:\/g\/personal\/aparna_amanna_nhslothian_scot_nhs_uk\/EdoxOd40npZApY2i_0bPSUIBeMfGyftUaOWjvGPVXypq9Q?e=vDpZQz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Frailty Poster <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;\u2018Frailty\u2019 is a term that\u2019s used a lot, but is often misunderstood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When used properly, it refers to a person\u2019s mental and physical resilience, or their ability to bounce back and recover from events like illness and injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Frail people usually suffer from three or more of five symptoms that often co-exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Muscle loss and Weakness<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fatigue<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Unintentional&nbsp;weight loss&nbsp;(10 or more pounds within the past year),<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Low levels of physical activity<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Slow walking speed<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s also important to consider the following as possible indicators of frailty:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Falls<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Immobility( eg sudden change in mobility)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Delirium<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Incontinence( new onset or worsening urine or faecal incontinence)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Susceptibility to side effects of medications ( esp. confusion and hypotension)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Visual impairment<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cognitive impairment MMSE&lt; 25<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Increasing need for support<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you see a patient with some of these symptoms or indicators you should consider coding them as&nbsp;<strong>FRAIL<\/strong> and using the&nbsp;<strong>Rockwood Clinical Frailty Scale<\/strong>&nbsp;to determine the severity of frailty<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is a link to the online training module for the Rockwood Clinical Frailty Scale:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scfn.org.uk\/clinical-frailty-scale-training\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.scfn.org.uk\/clinical-frailty-scale-training<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>J.B. &amp; A.C. 30-05-23<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs\" data-active-tab=\"0\"><ul class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-links\"><\/ul>\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Referral Guidelines<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Primary Care Management<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Resources and Links<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/MoE-HatH-Rockwood-Clinical-Frailty-Scale-April-2020.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/MoE-HatH-Rockwood-Clinical-Frailty-Scale-April-2020-1.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/Frailty_Information_Resource.pdf\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/scottish-my.sharepoint.com\/:b:\/g\/personal\/aparna_amanna_nhslothian_scot_nhs_uk\/ERfxdTzLxLVIhIkyCw87HkkBvJGAKkIhekvq67XJsQvseQ?e=wBfPg4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Frailty Information Resource<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/FRAILTY-POSTER.pdf\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/scottish-my.sharepoint.com\/:b:\/g\/personal\/aparna_amanna_nhslothian_scot_nhs_uk\/EdoxOd40npZApY2i_0bPSUIBeMfGyftUaOWjvGPVXypq9Q?e=vDpZQz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Frailty Poster <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Frailty Information Resource&amp; Frailty Poster &nbsp;&lsquo;Frailty&rsquo; is a term that&rsquo;s used a lot, but is often misunderstood. When used properly, it refers to a person&rsquo;s mental and physical resilience, or their ability to bounce back and recover from events like illness and injury. Frail people usually suffer from three or more of five symptoms that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":4118,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[939],"class_list":["post-15544","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-https-apps-nhslothian-scot-refhelp-frailty"],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"heatherlevy","author_link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/author\/heatherlevy\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":" <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/category\/medicineofelderlygeriatrics\/https-apps-nhslothian-scot-refhelp-frailty\/\" rel=\"tag\">Frailty<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Frailty Information Resource&amp; Frailty Poster &nbsp;&lsquo;Frailty&rsquo; is a term that&rsquo;s used a lot, but is often misunderstood. When used properly, it refers to a person&rsquo;s mental and physical resilience, or their ability to bounce back and recover from events like illness and injury. Frail people usually suffer from three or more of five symptoms that","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15544"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24159,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15544\/revisions\/24159"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}