Reliability of Self-Screening for Intrinsic Capacity Impairments Using the ICOPE Monitor App.

AIM: To verify the inter-rater agreement of the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) STEP 1 screening tool using the ICOPE Monitor app, comparing self-assessment to a screening performed by a health professional. METHODS: We compared the results of the ICOPE Step 1 obtained by self-screening with those obtained by a professional screening using Gwet's agreement coefficient in two studies. Study 1 tested inter-rater reliability in participants to the INSPIRE-T cohort who agreed to undergo the self-and the professional screening on the same day. Study 2 used data from the INSPIRE-ICOPE care cohort. We included real-life users of the French health system whose first ICOPE Step 1 was a self-assessment followed by a professional Step 1within 130 days (mean=76 days, SD=60). RESULTS: Study 1 included 79 participants (45 aged less than 60, 34 aged 60 and over, 60% female, mean (SD) age of 54.5 (18.5) years). Of the 207 participants in Study 2, 49 were less than 60, and 158 were 60 and over (54% female, mean (SD) age 67 (16.1) years). Agreement coefficients in Study 1 ranged from 0.49 (CI95% 0.24; 0.66) in the cognition domain - moderate agreement) to 0.99 (CI95% 0.96;1.00) in the nutrition domain - very good agreement); and in Study 2 from 0.36 (CI95% 0.23;0.49) in the cognition domain to 0.97 (95% 0.95;1.00) in the nutrition domain. The agreement coefficients for the cognition and hearing domains were higher for the participants aged <60 than those aged 60 and over. The time orientation items (cognition) showed high reliability. CONCLUSION: Our study supports using ICOPE Step 1 as a self-assessment screening tool. High reliability was found for intrinsic capacity's nutrition, psychological, and locomotion domains, regardless of age. We discuss aspects of the self-assessment of cognition, vision, and hearing domains when using the ICOPE monitor app in older adults.

Assessment and Management of Appetite Loss in Older Adults: An ICFSR Task Force Report.

The Appetite loss in older people is an important unmet clinical need in geriatrics. The International Conference on Frailty and Sarcopenia Research (ICFSR) organized a Task Force on April 20th 2022, in Boston, to discuss issues related to appetite loss in older people, in particular, the assessment tools currently available, its evaluation in the primary care setting, and considerations about its management. There is a high heterogeneity in terms of the etiology of appetite loss in older people and a gold standard assessment tool for evaluating this condition is still absent. Although this may render difficult the management of poor appetite in clinical practice, validated assessment tools are currently available to facilitate early identification of appetite loss and support care decisions. As research on biomarkers of appetite loss progresses, assessment tools will soon be used jointly with biomarkers for more accurate diagnosis and prognosis. In addition, efforts to foster the development of drugs with a favorable risk/benefit ratio to combat poor appetite should be strengthened.

Frequency of Conditions Associated with Declines in Intrinsic Capacity According to a Screening Tool in the Context of Integrated Care for Older People.

BACKGROUND: The screening tool of the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE Step 1), designed to detect declines in the domains of intrinsic capacity, has been incipiently investigated in older adult populations. OBJECTIVES: To retrospectively estimate the frequency of priority conditions associated with declines in intrinsic capacity according to an adaptation of the screening tool ICOPE Step 1 among participants of the Multidomain Alzheimer Preventive Trial (MAPT). DESIGN: A cross-sectional retrospective analysis from the baseline assessment of the MAPT. SETTING: The data was gathered during a preventive consultation for cardiovascular risk factors in memory clinics in France. PARTICIPANTS: Seven hundred fifty-nine older adults aged 70-89 years with memory complaints, allocated to the multidomain groups of the MAPT study. MEASUREMENTS: Five domains of intrinsic capacity (cognition, locomotion, nutrition, sensorial, and psychological) were assessed using a screening tool similar to the ICOPE Step 1 (MAPT Step 1). The frequency of six conditions associated with declines in intrinsic capacity (cognitive decline, limited mobility, malnutrition, visual impairment, hearing loss, and depressive symptoms) was obtained for older adults with memory complaints participating in the MAPT study. RESULTS: Overall, 89.3% of the participants had one or more conditions associated with declines in intrinsic capacity. The overall frequency of each condition was: 52.2% for cognitive decline, 20.2% for limited mobility, 6.6% for malnutrition, 18.1% for visual impairment, 56.2% for hearing loss, and 39% for depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: After being screened with an adaptation of the ICOPE step 1 (MAPT step 1) tool, 9/10 older adults had one or more conditions associated with declines in intrinsic capacity. The relative frequency differs across conditions and could probably be lower in a population without memory complaints. The frequency of screened conditions associated with declines in IC highlights how relevant it is to develop function-centered care modalities to promote healthy aging.

Validation of Two Intrinsic Capacity Scales and Its Relationship with Frailty and Other Outcomes in Mexican Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare a short and a long version of an intrinsic capacity index and test their cross-sectional association with relevant health outcomes in older adults. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of the baseline data of the FraDySMex study. PARTICIPANTS: 543 community-dwelling adults aged 50 years and older living in 2 municipalities in Mexico City, from which 435 had complete data on the variables of interest. METHODS: The intrinsic capacity indices were obtained using principal components analysis. The performance of the indices was tested respective to frailty, IADL and ADL. RESULTS: The short and long versions of the IC index performed well for assessing functional status. Using biometrical variables like the phase angle, grip strength and gait speed measured by the GAIT rite improved the index performance vis a vis IADL disability (Lawton), but not to the other evaluated outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Both the long and short versions of the intrinsic capacity indices tested were able to classify older adults according to their functional status and were associated with relevant health outcomes.

In the quest of a Standard Index of Intrinsic Capacity. A Critical Literature Review.

OBJECTIVES: Intrinsic capacity is a composite of five domains that summarizes the physical and mental capacities of an individual. Intrinsic capacity is increasing in relevance for adapting health systems to population ageing. Therefore, our objective was to analyse how intrinsic capacity has been assessed in older adults and if these measurements have been validated, as an initial step towards the construction of a standard intrinsic capacity index. DESIGN: Narrative review with electronic searches performed in PubMed and Cochrane databases, including the studies which used the term "intrinsic capacity" in the context of human ageing and health. The full text was then accessed to select studies with at least one operationalised domain of intrinsic capacity. We also looked for information on the validity and reliability of the reported measures of intrinsic capacity. RESULTS: We included ten articles reporting a quantitative measurement of intrinsic capacity. There were two intrinsic capacity scores which combined retrospective data on the intrinsic capacity domains sub-scores, with low concordance among tests chosen to measure each domain. Two studies reported on reliability and validity of the IC scores. The main gaps in the construction and validation process were a) analysis undertaken with each domain separately rather than for the construct of intrinsic capacity, b) lack of a clear conceptual and operational definition of the vitality domain, c) summary score that depends upon the distribution of the study sample. CONCLUSION: Further validation of the intrinsic capacity concept is needed, together with more robust approaches to measure it. A standard index of IC has not been validated for translation into clinical or research purposes.