A. Clegg, C. Bates, J. Young, R.Ryan, et al.

Age and Ageing 2016;0:1-8

International guidelines recommend routine identification of frailty to provide evidence-based treatment, but currently available tools require additional resource.
This retrospective cohort study wants to develop and validate an electronic frailty index (eFI), using routinely available primary care electronic health record data.

J.M. Hofstede, N.J. Raijmakers, L.S. van der Hoek et al.

Palliat Med. 2016 Jan 26. pii: 0269216315627123. [Epub ahead of print]

The aim of this paper is to compare the quality of palliative care provided to patients with cancer, patients with organ failure and frail patients and their relatives.
Compared with the bereaved relatives of patients with cancer, bereaved relatives of patients with organ failure or frailty were more likely to negatively assess the palliative care provided to both the patient and themselves.

M.S. Fragala, D.E. Alley, M.D. Shardell et al.

JAGS 2016;64:144–150

This study aimed at comparing the relative predictive power of handgrip and leg extension strength in predicting slow walking.

Results suggest that handgrip strength may be an adequate measure to predict physical function whereas leg extension strength is only a slightly better predictor of slow gait speed.

R.A. Merchant, S. Banerji, G. Singh et al.

J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2016;17(1):65-70

Older adults are known to compensate well for declining physiological reserve through environmental modification and posture adaptation. This study aimed to analyze and identify significant posture adaptation in older adults that is required to maintain gait speed in the face of increasing vulnerability.
Data of this study suggest that identifying trunk posture adaptation before the onset of decline in gait speed will help in planning interventions in the at-risk community-dwelling older adults even before gait speed declines.