Comparison of two frailty screening tools in older women with early breast cancer.
OBJECTIVE
We have tested two frailty screening tools (the Barber Questionnaire [BQ] and the Vulnerable Elderly Survey [VES-13]) to select patients who may benefit from Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA).


METHODS
We included women ≥ 65 years old, diagnosed with early breast cancer at the University General Hospital in Elche. We compared impairment in the BQ score (score <0 vs. > 0) and impairment in the VES-13 score (<3 vs. ≥ 3), with impaired CGA results (< 2 scales with deficits vs. ≥2). We evaluated the diagnostic performance of both questionnaires by Area Under Curve [AUC] and analyzed their concordance with CGA scales (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]).


RESULTS
Forty-one women were included. The risk of frailty was 41.76%, 29.3%, and 55.7% when evaluated with BQ, VES-13 and CGA, respectively. The correlation between BQ and CGA was fair (ICC=0.672), but between VES-13 and CGA was very good (ICC=0.814). The predictive capacity of the BQ and the VES-13 for detecting frailty risk was intermediate (AUC=0.719) and high (AUC=0.876), respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
We propose the use of the VES-13 in older women with early breast cancer and the implementation of CGA when VES-13<3.
Molina-Garrido
M J
MJ
Medical Oncology Department. Hospital General Virgen de la Luz in Cuenca, Hermandad Donantes de Sangre, Spain. mjmolinagarrido@hotmail.com
Guillen-Ponce
C
C
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires