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130 active trials for Frailty

Characterising Frailty Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Ageing is associated with the development of various negative conditions, such as frailty. Defined as a decreased ability to combat negative stressors (e.g. injury and illness), frailty is highly prevalent in elderly adults and significantly increases an individual's risk of adverse events such as falls, illness and death. The underlying physical characteristics of frailty are currently incompletely understood, with many previous studies focusing on one tissue (e.g. the brain) in isolation. However, frailty is known to affect many tissues simultaneously, and to further our insight into the biological basis of frailty and how to treat it, we must determine how different organs are affected at the same time. The study will look at the physical characteristics of non-frail and frail elderly females (aged 65 years and over), who are attending geriatric clinics across the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. We will aim to recruit 51 participants with this cohort broken down into non-frail (n=17), pre-frail (n=17) and frail (n=17) subgroups. Participants will be allocated to these groups based on their Electronic Frailty Index, Clinical Frailty Scale and Fried frailty phenotype scores. All participants will undergo basic muscle function tests (grip strength, leg strength and muscle activity) and questionnaires on their first visit to University of Nottingham laboratories. At a second visit, they will then undergo one Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanning session, at the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre within the University, to gather information about the structure and function of their heart, brain and skeletal muscle. MRI scan protocols will take approximately 45-60 mins. Data gathered from MRI scanning will be compared across non-frail, pre-frail and frail groups to investigate differences across frailty states, with the aim of highlighting the defining physical characteristics of the frail state which may help to develop future treatment interventions to combat the condition. We hypothesise that frail females will present with common physical characteristics, the clustering of which will be indicative of frailty severity. We also hypothesise that certain physical traits present in the frail will not be present in the non-frail.

Start: May 2021
Protocol for Multi-site Evaluation of New Community-based Frailty Programme

Background: Frailty is increasing in prevalence internationally with population ageing. Frailty can be managed or even reversed through community-based interventions delivered by a multi-disciplinary team of professionals, but to varying degrees of effectiveness. However, many of the implementation insights of these care models are contextual, and may not be applicable in different cultural contexts. The Geriatric Service Hub (GSH) is a novel frailty care programme in Singapore, that includes key components of frailty care such as comprehensive geriatric assessments, care coordination and the assembly of a multidisciplinary team. The aim of this study is to gain insights on the factors influencing the implementation approaches adopted by five participating sites, and the effectiveness of the programme. Methods: We will adopt a mixed-methods approach that includes a qualitative evaluation among key stakeholders and participants taking part in the programme, through in depth-interviews and focus group discussions. The main topics covered includes factors that affected the development and implementation of each programme, operations and other contextual factors that influenced implementation outcomes. The quantitative evaluation (1) monitors each programme's care process through quality indicators, (2) a multiple-time point survey study to compare programme participants' pre- and post- outcomes on patient engagement (collaboRATE and 13-item Patient Activation Measure;PAM), healthcare experiences (Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and System Clinician and Group Survey Version 3.0; CG-CAHPS), health status and quality of life (Barthel Index of Activities of Daily Living, fall counts, the EuroQol questionnaire and the Control, Autonomy, Self-realization and Pleasure scale; CASP-19), impact on caregivers (Zarit Burden Interview) and societal costs (Client Service Receipt Inventory). (3) A retrospective cohort design to assess healthcare and cost utilisation between participants of the programme and a propensity score matched comparator group. Discussion: The GSH sites share a common goal to increasing accessibility of essential services to frail older adults, and providing comprehensive care. The results of this evaluation study will provide valuable evidence to the impact and effectiveness of the GSH, and inform to the design of similar programmes targeting frail older adults.

Start: April 2019