Frailty syndrome: evaluation of its knowledge and screening tools by general medicine interns

Abstract

This study aims to describe and evaluate the knowledge about frailty, its screening tests and management in a population of general practice interns. A prospective, descriptive and mono-centric study using an online survey was conducted. The 2018's promotion of general practice interns in Rouen's University participated. Evaluation of the general knowledge (e.g diagnostic criteria) and specific knowledge (e.g ranking different conditions such as: undernourishment leading to asthenia) and management algorithm (e.g to address the patient for geriatric evaluation) Results: 90 questionnaires were analyzed. Ten interns (11%) stated to know at least one screening test or to know a set of 4 major frailty criteria. Thirty four interns knew at least 4 frailty criteria (major or minor) and 46 interns had partial knowledge. Fried's phenotype was the most known. Seventy-five interns (83%) stated to know the frailty syndrome. However, 88% of the interns had little knowledge about its pathophysiology. Concerning frailty management, 78% (70 interns) stated to know how to screen frailty and prescribe first line treatments. Thirty-one among them knew how to reassess initial treatment if failure. In 59 interns (65%), identifying frailty would have led to a geriatric consultation. Seventy-nine interns (87%) were favorable to go through further training on frailty. These general practice interns were able to identify frailty criterion but, in contrast, global understanding of the syndrome was missing. Further training about this topic seems to be necessary.