Validation of an Instrumental Device to Estimate the Risk of Falls and Frailty in Older People
Highlights What are the main findings? The Oldfry instrumental device demonstrates high reliability, sensitivity, and agreement for detecting fall risk and frailty in institutionalized older adults. Measurements obtained with Oldfry show a strong correlation with the reference clinical tests Timed U...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2026 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Fundación para el Fomento de la Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de la Comunitat Valenciana (FISABIO) |
| Repositorio: | r-FISABIO. Repositorio Institucional de Producción Científica |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:dnet:r-fisabio___::53a5b23b5d1b447b246a3ff72c639516 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://fisabio.portalinvestigacion.com/publicaciones/21250 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | accidental falls fragility older adults validation study |
| Sumario: | Highlights What are the main findings? The Oldfry instrumental device demonstrates high reliability, sensitivity, and agreement for detecting fall risk and frailty in institutionalized older adults. Measurements obtained with Oldfry show a strong correlation with the reference clinical tests Timed Up and Go (TUG) and Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). The device improves the detection of frailty and mild fall risk compared with traditional manual assessment. What are the implications of the main findings? The use of instrumental devices such as Oldfry enables objective, rapid, and accurate assessment of fall risk and frailty in residential care settings. Early identification of deficits in balance, mobility, gait, and muscle strength facilitates the planning of personalized physical activity interventions. The implementation of structured exercise programs supported by this type of technology may contribute to improving functional autonomy and quality of life in older adults.Highlights What are the main findings? The Oldfry instrumental device demonstrates high reliability, sensitivity, and agreement for detecting fall risk and frailty in institutionalized older adults. Measurements obtained with Oldfry show a strong correlation with the reference clinical tests Timed Up and Go (TUG) and Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). The device improves the detection of frailty and mild fall risk compared with traditional manual assessment. What are the implications of the main findings? The use of instrumental devices such as Oldfry enables objective, rapid, and accurate assessment of fall risk and frailty in residential care settings. Early identification of deficits in balance, mobility, gait, and muscle strength facilitates the planning of personalized physical activity interventions. The implementation of structured exercise programs supported by this type of technology may contribute to improving functional autonomy and quality of life in older adults.Abstract Objective: To validate the Oldfry instrumental device for efficiently detecting the risk of falls and frailty in older adults. Design and Methods: An observational, analytical, cross-sectional, multicenter, non-randomized study to validate an instrumental device. It was conducted in several nursing homes for the elderly in the province of Castell & oacute;n, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain, from February to April 2024. The estimated necessary sample size was 149 people. Specific selection criteria and voluntary acceptance to participate in the study were established. Sociodemographic, anthropometric, and other variables such as fall history in the past year were collected. A descriptive and comparative analysis of the variables was performed. The validity and reliability of the device in its measurements were determined to compare the results of the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test and the Short Physical Performance Battery test (SPPB), with respect to the Oldfry instrumental device. Informed consent was obtained from all participants, and the study was approved by the Bioethics Committee of the University Jaume I. Results: The sample consisted of 151 participants with a median age of 84 years (IQR [78.0-91.0]), comprising 39.10% men and 60.90% women, 65 years of age or older. Oldfry presents a sensitivity of 45.90% and a specificity of 72.7% for the risk of falls with a correlation R: 0.773 and an ICC concordance: 0.821. For frailty assessment, it shows a sensitivity of 91.90% and a specificity of 9.10% with an R: 0.854 and ICC: 0.805. Conclusions: This device has proven to be an effective tool for detecting both the risk of falls and frailty in older adults residing in institutions, showing high levels of reliability, sensitivity, and high concordance and correlation in both measurements. Future studies are anticipated to evaluate the benefits of this application. |
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