Implementing Frailty Assessment in Australian General Practice

Le résumé fourni par la source

Background Frailty drives preventable hospitalisation and functional decline but is often undetected in primary care. Digital health enables scalable identification using routine data. Aim/Objectives This review synthesises the Australian evidence on frailty instruments, with a focus on implementation, scalability, and system impact. Methods A PRISMA-guided systematic review of CINAHL, MEDLINE, and PubMed identified studies evaluating frailty instruments in Australian primary care. Data were synthesised regarding diagnostic performance, feasibility, and implementation potential. Findings Twenty-four studies (32 instruments) were included. A clear trade-off was observed between feasibility and diagnostic accuracy. The electronic Frailty Index (eFI), derived from routinely collected UK electronic health record data, demonstrated strong discriminative ability (AUROC ~0.90) and feasibility for automated, population-level screening without additional clinical burden. Evidence supports integration into routine workflows; however, implementation depends on data quality, coding standardisation, and system interoperability. Implications Digital frailty identification represents a scalable innovation to support proactive, risk-stratified care. Embedding eFI within primary care systems can enable earlier interventions, improve equity, and reduce avoidable healthcare utilisation. Investment in digital infrastructure and implementation pathways is essential to translate this evidence into sustainable practice.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.