Frailty in community‐dwelling older people and nursing home residents: An adaptation and validation study

Abstract

AbstractAimThe aim of this was to psychometrically adapt and evaluate the Tilburg Frailty Indicator to assess frailty among older people living in Slovenia's community and nursing home settings.DesignA cross‐cultural adaptation and validation of instruments throughout the cross‐sectional study.MethodsOlder people living in the community and nursing homes throughout Slovenia were recruited between March and August 2021. Among 831 participants were 330 people living in nursing homes and 501 people living in the community, and all were older than 65 years.ResultsAll items were translated into the Slovene language, and a slight cultural adjustment was made to improve the clarity of the meaning of all items. The average scale validity index of the scale was rated as good, which indicates satisfactory content validity. Cronbach's α was acceptable for the total items and subitems.ConclusionsThe Slovenian questionnaire version demonstrated adequate internal consistency, reliability, and construct and criterion validity. The questionnaire is suitable for investigating frailty in nursing homes, community dwelling and other settings where older people live.ImpactThe Slovenian questionnaire version can be used to measure and evaluate frailty among older adults. We have found that careful translation and adaptation processes have maintained the instrument's strong reliability and validity for use in a new cultural context. The instrument can foster international collaboration to identify and manage frailty among older people in nursing homes and community‐dwelling homes.Reporting MethodThe Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology checklist for reporting cross‐sectional studies was used.No Patient or Public ContributionNo patient or public involvement in the design or conduct of the study. Head nurses from nursing homes and community nurses helped recruit older adults. Older adults only contributed to the data collection and were collected from nursing homes and community dwelling.