Russell et al developed the FROP-com questionnaire to determine the falls risk for an older person living in the community. This consists of 26 items, and a 3-item screening subset has use in general practice. The authors are from the University of Melbourne, LaTrobe University and Monash University in Australia.
Patient selection: age >= 60 years, community dwelling, following ED visit for a fall, able to walk independently
Outcome: falls in the next 12 months
Screening items:
(1) number of falls in preceding 12 months
(2) observation of the patient's balance
(3) need for assistance to perform domestic activities of daily living
Each item was scored from 0 to 3. The point assignment for number of falls is not specified.
total score =
= SUM(points for all 3 items)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 0
• maximum score: 9
• The higher the score the greater the risk of falls.
• A score >= 3 or >= 4 can be used to identify a patient who should have a more formal evaluation.
Performance:
• The area under the ROC curve was 0.73.
• A cut-off of >=3 has a sensitivity of 85% and specificity of 43%.
• A cut-off of >=4 has a sensitivity of 70% and specificity of 59%.
