Simplification of the Barthel scale for screening for frailty and severe dependency in polypathological patients

Abstract Objectives To analyze the sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive (PPV) and negative predictive (NPV) values of each measure of the Barthel index (BI) compared with the full questionnaire for polypathological patients (PPPs). Methods Multicentre cross-sectional study. We considered 2 cut-off points for the BI (≥90 points for screening frailty and Results The mean BI of the 1632 included PPPs (mean age, 77.9 ± 9.8 years; 53% men) was 69 ± 31 ( Conclusions PPPs in hospital settings have a high rate of functional impairment. The measure for feeding achieved the highest NPV and can therefore be employed for diagnosing severe dependence. The combination of the measures for walking and going up and down stairs achieved the highest PPV and can therefore be employed to propose frailty screening for PPPs.