Content validation of the Tilburg Frailty Indicator from the perspective of frail elderly. A qualitative explorative study.
The Tilburg Frailty Indicator is a questionnaire with a bio-psycho-social approach, which measures frailty by 15 questions. A questionnaire about frailty should be in alignment with experiences of frail elderly themselves as a target population is an important source of knowledge in content validation.


OBJECTIVE
To validate the Tilburg Frailty Indicator on content in relation to the physical, psychological and social domain by exploring the experience of daily life of community dwelling frail elderly.


METHODS
The design was a qualitative content validation study. The participants were acutely admitted frail elderly discharged to home and interviewed one week after discharge. A deductive content analysis, with categories structured in advance, was performed.


RESULTS
A total of 422 meaning units were extracted from the transcriptions; 131 units related to the physical domain, 106 units to the psychological domain and 185 units to the social domain. 56 units were not linked into the existing structure of the questionnaire. 14 of 15 questions were confirmed from a target population perspective. The four issues pain, sleep quality, spirituality and meaningful activities that seem to be important elements for frail elderly were not directly covered by the questionnaire.


CONCLUSIONS
It seems likely that the majority of important items related to frailty are covered in the questionnaire. The findings add to the scientific body of knowledge in relation to the validity of the questionnaire. Future research should investigate the importance of the four issues pain, sleep quality, spirituality and meaningful activities in relation to the screening of frailty.
Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Sdr. Skovvej 15, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark; Department of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, Aalborg University Hospital, Hobrovej 18-22, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark. Electronic address: jaan@rn.dk.
Jane
J
Andreasen
Research Unit for Musculoskeletal Function and Physiotherapy, Institute for Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M, Denmark; Centre for Knowledge Based Practice, Bergen University College, Inndalsveien 28, Postbox 7030, N-5020 Bergen, Norway. Electronic address: hlund@health.sdu.dk.
Hans
H
Lund
Research Centre for Prevention and Health, The Capital Region of Denmark, Glostrup Hospital, Ndr. Ringvej 57, Afsnit 84/85, 2600 Glostrup, Denmark; Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: mette.aadahl@regionh.dk.
Mette
M
Aadahl
Faculty of Health, Sports and Social Work, Inholland University of Applied Sciences, OZW-building, Room 6A-13, De Boelelaan 1109, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Zonnehuisgroep Amstelland, Laan van de Helende Meesters 114, 1186 AM Amstelveen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: robbert.gobbens@inholland.nl.
Robbert J J
RJ
Gobbens
Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Sdr. Skovvej 15, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark; Clinical Nursing Research Unit, Aalborg University Hospital, Sdr. Skovvej 15, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark. Electronic address: ees@rn.dk.
Erik E
EE
Sorensen
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D016330:Frail Elderly; D006304:Health Status; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D001523:Mental Disorders; D010146:Pain; D010351:Patient Discharge; D010808:Physical Examination; D011594:Psychometrics; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards
Content validation; Deductive content analysis; Elderly; Explorative; Frailty; The Tilburg Frailty Questionnaire