Few Frailty Tools Have Potential to Rely on EHR Data

Electronic health record (EHR) information does not align with most frailty assessment tools, according to a study that looked at the potential of tapping EHRs for frailty data. Researchers published their findings online in the Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics. 

“Despite the availability of many frailty measures to identify older adults at risk, frailty instruments are not routinely used for risk assessment in population health management,” researchers wrote. “Here, we assessed the potential value of electronic health records and administrative claims in providing the necessary data for variables used across various frailty instruments.” 

Out of 135 frailty instruments reviewed, only 15% could be generated entirely from EHR data, according to the study. About 83% require at least one variable not routinely available in EHRs or claims. 

Among a total 593 variables on frailty instruments, clinical determinants of health were represented in 87%, researchers reported. Social and health services factors, however, were represented in only approximately 5%.

Just 22 frailty instruments have the potential to rely solely on EHR structured or free-text data or claims data, researchers noted, and could possibly be operationalized on a population level. 

“Frailty instruments continue to be highly survey-based. More research is therefore needed to develop EHR-based frailty instruments for population health management,” they concluded. “This will permit organizations and societies to stratify risk and better allocate resources among different older adult populations.” 

—Jolynn Tumolo 

Reference: 

Bery AK, Anzaldi LJ, Boyd CM, Leff B, Kharrazi H. Potential value of electronic health records in capturing data on geriatric frailty for population health [published online ahead of print, 2020 Aug 12]. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2020;91:104224. doi:10.1016/j.archger.2020.104224