Howlett et al measured frailty based on laboratory tests and blood pressure measurements, termed the FI-LAB. The authors are from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and the University of Manchester.
Patient selection: >= 65 years of age
Parameters: 23 measures as shown in table
Parameter |
Low Cut-Off (LLN) |
High Cut-Off (ULN) |
albumin in g/L |
32 |
45 |
AST in IU/L |
8 |
33 |
supine systolic BP |
90 |
140 |
supine diastolic BP |
60 |
90 |
calcium in mmol/L |
2.3 |
2.7 |
creatinine in µmol/L |
53 |
106 |
folate in nmol/L |
11 |
57 |
RBC folate in nmol/L |
376 |
1450 |
fasting glucose in mmol/L |
3.9 |
6.1 |
hemoglobin in g/L |
125 |
180 |
MCV in fL |
80 |
96 |
alkaline phosphatase in IU/L |
20 |
130 |
inorganic phosphorus in mmol/L |
0.74 |
1.52 |
potassium in mmol/L |
3.8 |
5 |
total protein in g/L |
60 |
78 |
sodium in mmol/L |
136 |
142 |
TSH in µIU/L |
0.5 |
5 |
T4 in nmol/L |
71 |
161 |
free T4 in pmol/L |
12 |
30 |
urea in mmol/L |
2.9 |
8.2 |
vitamin B12 in pg/L |
118 |
701 |
WBC count in 10^9/L |
1.8 |
7.8 |
VDRL |
|
|
where:
• The use of 2 measures for folate and thyroxine seems odd.
• Including the VDRL seems odd, especially considering false positives.
• The upper cut-off for WBC count seems low.
Parameter |
Points |
less than LLN |
1 |
LLN to ULN |
0 |
greater than ULN |
1 |
score =
= SUM(points for all of the parameters available) / (number of parameters available)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 0
• maximum score: 1
• The score was calculated if more than 70% of parameters are available.
• The mean FI-LAB at baseline was 0.27.
Performance:
• The area under the ROC curve is 0.72.
Specialty: Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation