Dataset Information

Technologies for frailty, comorbidity, and multimorbidity in older adults: a systematic review of research designs.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Frailty, neurodegeneration and geriatric syndromes cause a significant impact at the clinical, social, and economic level, mainly in the context of the aging world. Recently, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), virtual reality tools, and machine learning models have been increasingly applied to the care of older patients to improve diagnosis, prognosis, and interventions. However, so far, the methodological limitations of studies in this field have prevented to generalize data to real-word. This review systematically overviews the research designs used by studies applying technologies for the assessment and treatment of aging-related syndromes in older people.

Methods

Following the PRISMA guidelines, records from PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science were systematically screened to select original articles in which interventional or observational designs were used to study technologies' applications in samples of frail, comorbid, or multimorbid patients.

Results

Thirty-four articles met the inclusion criteria. Most of the studies used diagnostic accuracy designs to test assessment procedures or retrospective cohort designs to build predictive models. A minority were randomized or non-randomized interventional studies. Quality evaluation revealed a high risk of bias for observational studies, while a low risk of bias for interventional studies.

Conclusions

The majority of the reviewed articles use an observational design mainly to study diagnostic procedures and suffer from a high risk of bias. The scarce presence of methodologically robust interventional studies may suggest that the field is in its infancy. Methodological considerations will be presented on how to standardize procedures and research quality in this field.

SUBMITTER: Gallucci A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10334509 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Technologies for frailty, comorbidity, and multimorbidity in older adults: a systematic review of research designs.

Gallucci Alessia A Trimarchi Pietro D PD Tuena Cosimo C Cavedoni Silvia S Pedroli Elisa E Greco Francesca Romana FR Greco Antonio A Abbate Carlo C Lattanzio Fabrizia F Stramba-Badiale Marco M Giunco Fabrizio F

BMC medical research methodology 20230711 1

<h4>Background</h4>Frailty, neurodegeneration and geriatric syndromes cause a significant impact at the clinical, social, and economic level, mainly in the context of the aging world. Recently, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), virtual reality tools, and machine learning models have been increasingly applied to the care of older patients to improve diagnosis, prognosis, and interventions. However, so far, the methodological limitations of studies in this field have prevented to ...[more]

PMID: 37434136

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Project description:BackgroundThe use of assistive technologies (ATs) to support older people has been fueled by the demographic change and technological progress in many countries. These devices are designed to assist seniors, enable independent living at home or in residential facilities, and improve quality of life by addressing age-related difficulties.ObjectiveWe aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of ATs on relevant outcomes with a focus on frail older adults.MethodsA systematic literature review of randomized controlled trials evaluating ATs was performed according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. The Ovid Medline, PsycINFO, SocIndex, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), CENTRAL (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials), and IEEEXplore databases were searched from January 1, 2009, to March 15, 2019. ATs were included when aiming to support the domains autonomy, communication, or safety of older people with a mean age ≥65 years. Trials performed within a laboratory setting were excluded. Studies were retrospectively categorized according to the physical frailty status of participants.ResultsA total of 19 trials with a high level of heterogeneity were included in the analysis. Six device categories were identified: mobility, personal disease management, medication, mental support, hearing, and vision. Eight trials showed significant effectiveness in all or some of the primary outcome measures. Personal disease management devices seem to be the most effective, with four out of five studies showing significant improvement of disease-related outcomes. Frailty could only be assessed for seven trials. Studies including participants with significant or severe impairment showed no effectiveness.ConclusionsDifferent ATs show some promising results in well-functioning but not in frail older adults, suggesting that the evaluated ATs might not (yet) be suitable for this subgroup. The uncertainty of the effectiveness of ATs and the lack of high-quality research for many promising supportive devices were confirmed in this systematic review. Large studies, also including frail older adults, and clear standards are needed in the future to guide professionals, older users, and their relatives.Trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42019130249; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=130249.

Project description:BackgroundFrailty is a geriatric syndrome that affects multiple domains of human functioning. A variety of problems contributes to the development of this syndrome; poor nutritional status is an important determinant of this condition. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine recent evidence regarding the association between nutritional status and frailty syndrome in older adults.MethodsPubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus electronic databases were searched using specific key words, for observational papers that were published during the period from 2005 to February 2017 and that studied the association or relationship between nutritional status and frailty in older adults. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement was followed to assess the quality of the included articles.ResultsOf the 2042 studies found, nineteen met the inclusion criteria. Of these studies, five provided data on micronutrients and frailty, and reported that frailty syndrome is associated with low intakes of specific micronutrients. Five studies provided data on macronutrients and frailty, and among those studies, four revealed that a higher protein intake was associated with a lower risk of frailty. Three studies examined the relationship between diet quality and frailty, and showed that the quality of the diet is inversely associated with the risk of being frail. Two studies provided data on the antioxidant capacity of the diet and frailty, and reported that a high dietary antioxidant capacity is associated with a lower risk of developing frailty. Finally, seven studies evaluated the relationship between scores on both the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and the MNA-SF (Short Form) and frailty, and revealed an association between malnutrition and/or the risk of malnutrition and frailty.ConclusionsThis systematic review confirms the importance of both quantitative (energy intake) and qualitative (nutrient quality) factors of nutrition in the development of frailty syndrome in older adults. However, more longitudinal studies on this topic are required to further understand the potential role of nutrition in the prevention, postponement, or even reversion of frailty syndrome.

Project description:BackgroundExisting operational definitions of frailty are personnel-costly and time-consuming, resulting in estimates with a small sample size that cannot be generalized to the population level. The objectives were to develop a multimorbidity frailty index using Taiwan's claim database, and to understand its ability to predict adverse event.MethodsThis is a retrospective cohort study. Subjects aged 65 to 100 years who have full National Health Insurance coverage in 2005 were included. We constructed the multimorbidity frailty index using cumulative deficit approach and categorized study population according to the multimorbidity frailty index quartiles: fit, mild frailty, moderate frailty and severe frailty. The multimorbidity frailty index included deficits from outpatient and inpatient diagnosis. Associations with all-cause mortality, unplanned hospitalization and intensive care unit admission were assessed using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analyses.ResultsThe multimorbidity frailty index incorporated 32 deficits, with mean multimorbidity frailty index score of 0.052 (standard deviation = 0.060) among 86,133 subjects included. Compared to subjects in fit category, subjects with severe frailty were associated with a 5.0-fold (adjusted hazard ratio, aHR 4.97; 95% confidence interval, 95% CI 4.49-5.50) increased risk of death at 1 year after adjusting for age and gender. Subjects with moderate frailty or mild frailty was associated with 3.1- (adjusted HR 3.08; 95% CI 2.80-3.39) or 1.9- (adjusted HR 1.86; 95% CI 1.71-2.01) folds increased risk, respectively.4.49-5.50). The risk trend of unplanned hospitalization and intensive care unit admission is similar among the study population. Besides, the association between the frailty categories and all three outcomes was slightly stronger among women.ConclusionThe multimorbidity frailty index was highly associated with all-cause mortality, unplanned hospitalization and ICU admission. It could serve as an efficient tool for stratifying older adults into different risk groups for planning care management programs.

Dataset Information

Technologies for frailty, comorbidity, and multimorbidity in older adults: a systematic review of research designs.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Technologies for frailty, comorbidity, and multimorbidity in older adults: a systematic review of research designs.

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