Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41469075›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2025

Clinical validation of a frailty management mHealth tool in a cohort of community-dwelling older adults: the Geras Fit-Frailty App.

Courtney Clare Kennedy, George Ioannidis, Kenneth Rockwood, Aastha Relan, Jonathan Adachi, Alexandra Papaioannou, Fit-Frailty App Working Group

Abstract readValidation Study
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Courtney Clare KennedyGeras Centre for Aging Research, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada kennec2@mcmaster.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6708-0349
George IoannidisGeras Centre for Aging Research, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Kenneth RockwoodDivision of Geriatric Medicine, Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Aastha RelanGeras Centre for Aging Research, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Jonathan AdachiGeras Centre for Aging Research, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Alexandra PapaioannouGeras Centre for Aging Research, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Fit-Frailty App Working Group

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThis study describes the prototype testing and clinical validation of the Fit-Frailty App, a fully guided, interactive mobile health (mHealth) app to assess frailty and sarcopenia. This multi-dimensional tool is freely available on the App Store and considers medical history, physical performance, cognition, nutrition, daily function and psychosocial domains. To guide management, a total frailty score and clinical summary of underlying "risk flags" are provided. Our objectives were to examine usability, feasibility, criterion and construct validity.

designCross-sectional

settingOutpatient geriatric medicine clinic

participantsCommunity-dwelling older adults, age 65 years or older

methodsThe primary outcome of the clinical validation study was criterion validity. A research nurse administered the Fit-Frailty App during a routine clinic appointment. Clinicians simultaneously completed a paper-based frailty index (FI) tool with similar items from a comprehensive geriatric assessment (FI-CGA). Total scores for both assessments were computed using the cumulative deficits frailty index scoring method. Intraclass and Pearson correlation coefficients and 95% CIs were calculated to examine criterion validity. Secondary outcomes were construct validity, feasibility (eg, completion rates, safety occurrences, resources) and usability (eg, ratings on ease of use, time to complete the app).

resultsIn the clinical validation study (n=75, mean age 79.2, SD=7.0, 53% female), the mean total Fit-Frailty App score was 0.33 (SD=0.13) with 73% of our sample considered frail or severely frail. The app presented comparable results to FI-CGA (moderate to good validity; ICC=0.65, 95%CI=0.50-0.76) with a strong association between the measures (r=0.74, 95%CI=0.62-0.83). In our prototype and clinical cohorts, the app had a 100% completion rate with no safety occurrences and had high usability ratings.

conclusionsThe Fit-Frailty App is a feasible and valid tool that can be used in research and clinical settings to comprehensively assess frailty and sarcopenia by non-geriatricians and could assist with developing targeted interventions.

Indexed as

Frail ElderlyFrailtyGeriatric AssessmentMobile ApplicationsSarcopeniaAgedAged, 80 and overCross-Sectional StudiesFeasibility StudiesFemaleHumansIndependent LivingMaleReproducibility of ResultsTelemedicineCell PhoneCognitionDigital TechnologyFrailtyGERIATRIC MEDICINEREHABILITATION MEDICINE

Identifiers

PMID41469075
PMCPMC12766843

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.