Measurement and Management of Frailty in Dialysis Patients: Combined Research Methodology

Frailty is a popular issue in geriatrics. Studies found that frailty was more common among individuals with CKD than those without CKD. In Taiwan, only one thesis explored “frailty，，in hemodialysis patients and the prevalence of frailty (11.7%) and pre-frailty (51.3%) were identified. Therefore, we plan to conduct this 3-year study (combining longitudinal design, systematic review and meta-analysis, and quasi-experimental design) to identify the measurement, management, and health related outcomes of frailty in this specific group of patients. In addition, computerized questionnaires will be created and evaluated for data collection. A total of 350 dialysis patients will be included by systematic sampling and assess their frailty and health outcomes regularly in the longitudinal part of study. For the quasi-experimental section, based on the first assessment, 80 patients will be included and distributed into the experimental or control groups by date of dialysis. The experimental group receives the planned intervention derived from systematic review, meta-analysis, and opinions from experts and dialysis patients. The measurements included: frailty index (Body weight, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, International Physical Activity Questionnaire -Taiwan Showcard Version, hand-held dynamometer, 15-foot (4.5 meter) timed walk, SF-36 Physical Function scale) and health related outcomes (fall, hospitalization, peritonitis ratio and ADL). The descriptive statistics (mean, SD, %) will be performed to describe the basic information of each variables. Sensitivity and specificity will be conducted to verify the dialysis patients. Multiple logistic regression, binary logistic regression, Cox proportional hazards regression will be selected to verify the frailty index whereas the t test, X2 test and GEE will be conducted to verify the impact of planned intervention. The understanding of frailty and effectiveness of frailty management in dialysis patients will be obtained at the end of this study.

Project ID:PC10601-0228
External Project ID:MOST104-2314-B182-026-MY3