title: The Marigliano-Cacciafesta polypathological scale: a tool for assessing fragility.
abstract: The aim of our studies was to establish a standard method of assessment that allows an early identification of frailty in the elderly, i.e., to predict who are at risk of developing disabilities, in order to be able to intervene with preventive global and individualized measures. A new multidimensional scale called Marigliano-Cacciafesta polypathological scale (MCPS) was used on 180 elderly people, together with the Barthel index (BI), the global evaluation functional index (GEFI), the geriatric depression scale (GDS), the mini mental state examination (MMSE), the mini nutritional assessment (MNA), and the Tinetti test. A strongly significant statistical correlation was found between the MCPS and the nutritional state, mood level, motor functionality, level of disability and global functionality. As the fragile patients are at a risk to develop disabilities, we think that our scale can be a significant contribution to the multidimensional geriatric assessment (MGA), aimed at identifying and quantifying the parameter of fragility of each patient, an information which should be known, if we intend to introduce preventive measures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Aging Science, Policlinico Umberto I, University "La Sapienza", viale del Policlinico, 155, I-00161 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amici
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baratta
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Linguanti
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giudice
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Servello
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scalise
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tafaro
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cicconetti
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Marigliano
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cacciafesta
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000523:psychology*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule / Q000592:standards; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D018570:Risk Assessment