Frailty in community-dwelling older adults: reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Gerontopole frailty screening tool

Background/aim: Recognizing frailty had a great importance in countries with an increasing geriatric population. The study aims to evaluate the reliability and validation of the Gerontopole frailty screening tool (GFST), which was developed to screen frailty in the community-dwelling older adults, for the Turkish population. Materials and methods: In this crosssectional study, participants who applied to the geriatrics outpatient clinic of a university hospital were included. Comprehensive geriatric assessments of all patients were performed. The validity of the GFST was tested by its concordance with the FRAIL scale. Test-retest and interrater reliability analyses were made. Results: Ninety-six patients were included in the study. Sixty-one and five-tenths percent (n = 59) of them are females. The median age was 72.0 (IQR: 10.0). There was a moderate concordance between the GFST and the FRAIL scale (Cohen's kappa: 0.566, p < 0.001). The Gerontopole frailty screening tool interrater and retest reliabilities were excellent (Cohen's kappa: 0.814, p < 0.001 and 1.0, p < 0.001; respectively). The sensitivity of the GFST determined according to the FRAIL scale is 69.39%, the specificity is 86.36%, the positive predictive value is 85.00%, and the negative predictive value is 71.70%. Conclusion: The Gerontopole frailty screening tool, which can be used by all healthcare professionals, is a valid and reliable tool for the Turkish geriatric population.