Vulnerability in the elderly: frailty.
In scenarios that predict the future of health service delivery in the Western world, the rapid increase in frail elderly patients is seen as one of the major challenges of health care in addition to the care of the chronic medically ill. In this article the relation between age, frailty, comorbidity, and disability is elaborated further, a method to detect frail patients quickly is introduced, and its relation to complexity is explored. An argument for patient-tailored integrated care in frail elderly patients is made. At the same time, the argument will be made that standard evidence-based care can be delivered for patients who have a negative screen on frailty.
Slaets
Joris P J
JP
Department of Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands. j.p.j.slaets@int.umcg.nl
D000368:Aged; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D016330:Frail Elderly; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D018570:Risk Assessment