Introduction Frailty is an important consideration in the health and wellbeing of older adults, particularly as it is associated with a risk of falls, and mental health difficulties such as depression. There has been no validation of frailty assessment tools among older adults with Psychiatric disorders. This was a feasibility study exploring the use of the Edmonton frail scale (EFS) among patients with highly complex mental health needs within a Psychiatric Inpatient Setting with a view to develop a service integration process leading to further research. Methods 45 participants were recruited from 8 older adult wards across Neuropsychiatry and Medium Secure divisions. EFS assessments were completed every six months by trained members of Multidisciplinary Teams over a 12-month period. Results: About 118 assessments were administered to approximately 45 patients, regardless of a patient’s length of stay at the hospital during the 12-month period. There was a 55% assessment completion rate. This was largely the result of difficulties in administering the cognitive domain of the EFS (Clock Drwing test) to patients with highly complex mental health needs, as the completion rate was 32%. It was also quite challenging for patients to understand and comply with the assessment instructions in the Functional Performance Domain (Timed Get Up and Go Test). As a result, many assessments in this domain were conducted through covert observation of patients’ movement during the course of the day. 29 of the 45 patients were found to have at least moderate level of frailty. Conclusion Older adults with psychiatric disorders may benefit from having an adapted assessment of the cognitive domain to promote complete administration of assessments. Prevalence of frailty is high in this setting. Continuous support towards staff engagement and education would be beneficial in promoting EFS use in determining frailty and integrating it into care planning.

中文翻译：

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2159 可行性研究：埃德蒙顿虚弱量表在精神病住院设施中的使用


简介 虚弱是老年人健康和福祉的一个重要考虑因素，特别是因为它与跌倒的风险和抑郁症等心理健康困难有关。尚未对患有精神疾病的老年人的虚弱评估工具进行验证。这是一项可行性研究，旨在探索在精神病住院环境中具有高度复杂心理健康需求的患者中使用埃德蒙顿虚弱量表 （EFS），以期开发一个服务整合流程，从而进一步研究。方法 从神经精神病学和中等安全科的 8 个老年病房招募了 45 名参与者。EFS 评估由 Multidisciplinary Team 的训练有素的成员每 6 个月完成一次，为期 12 个月。结果：对大约 45 名患者进行了大约 118 次评估，无论患者在 12 个月内住院的时间长短。评估完成率为 55%。这主要是由于难以对具有高度复杂心理健康需求的患者进行 EFS（Clock Drwing 测试）的认知领域的管理，因为完成率为 32%。对于患者来说，理解和遵守功能表现领域的评估说明（定时起床和走动测试）也是相当具有挑战性的。因此，该领域的许多评估都是通过秘密观察患者在一天中的运动来进行的。29 名患者中有 45 名被发现至少有中度虚弱。结论 患有精神疾病的老年人可能会受益于对认知领域的适应性评估，以促进评估的全面管理。 在这种情况下，虚弱的患病率很高。对员工参与和教育的持续支持将有助于促进 EFS 在确定虚弱并将其整合到护理计划中的应用。