Outcomes that matter and questionnaires for older people with frailty
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating outcomes that matter and the suitability of PROMs for older people living with frailty
IRAS ID
329896
Contact name
S V Hope
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 2 days
Research summary
Frailty is a clinical condition separate to healthy ageing, where people have less “reserve energy” to respond to stressful events like falls and infection. Approximately 10% of people over 65 live with frailty.
With an increasing older population, interventions are needed to prevent, slow, or reverse frailty. These include exercise programs, nutrition classes and reviews of people’s medication. Deciding what is “successful” is challenging, because many outcomes might matter to people with frailty, such as:
• Being able to go shopping, cook meals and manage money
• Being able to do daily tasks like washing, dressing and going to the toilet
• Avoiding pain
• Spending time with family and friends
• Living at home instead of in a care home“What matters” may change over time. For example, an individual with severe frailty who is nearing the end of their life may prioritise reducing pain. Exercise classes to improve strength may be inappropriate for this person. Very little research has investigated what outcomes matter to people with frailty, or different degrees of frailty.
Questionnaires measuring these outcomes are called PROMs (Patient-Reported Outcome Measures). There is no PROM specifically for people living with frailty. We feel it is vital that researchers should use PROMs to measure outcomes that matter to people with frailty.
This study proposes to interview older people who are living with frailty. The research questions are:
• What outcomes matter to older adults living with frailty?
• What are suitable PROMs to measure these outcomes?We aim to recruit 15 older adults at different stages of frailty (mild, moderate or severe). Participants will be invited to take part in interviews. They would discuss outcomes that matter to them as they age and problems that they face. They would then complete 3-4 PROMs (questionnaires) and discuss opinions on these.
REC name
London - City & East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/LO/0848
Date of REC Opinion
6 Oct 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion