[Frailty: Concept and Diagnosis]. / Frailty: Konzept und Diagnose.

Frailty increases the older adult's vulnerability to suffer adverse health outcomes. To date, no gold standard for the diagnosis of frailty exists. This article provides an overview of the most relevant frailty instruments and their scope of application.

[Therapy of physical frailty]. / Therapie der physischen Frailty.

As an overarching geriatric syndrome, frailty describes a potentially reversible transitional stage between functional autonomy and irreversible disability. Thus, frailty addresses a "window of opportunity" in which functional limitations can be successfully treated. This article provides an overview of the therapeutic approaches and their scientific evidence.

Development and Pilot Testing of an Algorithm-Based Approach to Anticholinergic Deprescribing in Older Patients.

BACKGROUND: Adverse anticholinergic drug reactions are common, yet evidence on how to reduce exposure to anticholinergic activity and reliably measure successful deprescribing is still scant. This study proposes an algorithm-based approach to evaluate and reduce anticholinergic load, and reports the results of its pilot testing. METHODS: Based on published evidence and expert opinion, a list of 85 anticholinergic drugs and 21 algorithms for reducing anticholinergic load, e.g., by recommending alternative drugs with lower risk, were developed. An accompanying test battery was assembled by focusing on instruments that sensitively reflect anticholinergic load and may be sensitive to depict changes (Neuropsychological Assessment Battery to measure memory and attention, validated assessments for constipation, urinary symptoms, and xerostomia, as well as blood biomarkers). The approach was pilot-tested in a geriatric rehabilitation unit, with clinician feedback as the primary outcome and characterization of anticholinergic symptoms as the secondary outcome. The intervention was delivered by a pharmacist and a clinical pharmacologist who used the algorithms to generate personalized recommendation letters. RESULTS: We included a total of 20 patients, 13 with anticholinergic drugs and 7 without. Recommendations were made for 22 drugs in nine patients from the intervention group, of which seven letters (78%) were considered helpful and 8/22 (36%) anticholinergic drugs were discontinued, reducing anticholinergic load in seven patients. In contrast to patients without drug change, memory assessment in patients with reduced anticholinergic load improved significantly after 2 weeks (6 ± 3 vs. -1 ± 6 points). CONCLUSIONS: The approach was well received by the participating physicians and might support standardized anticholinergic deprescribing.

Interventions to prevent the onset of frailty in adults aged 60 and older (PRAE-Frail): a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Frailty in older adults is associated with multiple adverse health outcomes, while evidence on its successful prevention has been scarce. Therefore, we analyzed the effectiveness of different interventions for the prevention of frailty onset. METHODS: In this systematic review, eight databases were searched for randomized controlled trials of interventions in non-frail (i.e., robust or pre-frail) adults aged ≥ 60 years that assessed frailty incidence at follow-up. Additive component network meta-analysis (CNMA) was conducted to isolate the effect of different intervention types on the main outcome of frailty incidence, reporting relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). The effect on gait speed was analyzed as an additional outcome using a classic network meta-analysis and the standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% CI. RESULTS: We screened 24,263 records and identified 11 eligible trials. Nine trials (842 participants, all categorized according to the physical phenotype) in pre-frail (seven RCTs) and robust/pre-frail (two RCTs) older adults were included in the CNMA. Physical exercise significantly reduced frailty incidence at follow-up (RR 0.26, 95% CI 0.08; 0.83), while this was not found for nutritional interventions (RR 1.16, 95% CI 0.33; 4.10). Interventions based on physical exercise also improved gait speed (SMD 1.55, 95% CI 1.16; 1.95). In addition, 22 eligible trial protocols without published results were identified. CONCLUSION: Interventions based on physical exercise appear to be effective in preventing the onset of frailty in older adults. Although the available data are still limited, results from ongoing trials may add to the body of evidence in the foreseeable future.