Clinical Research Protocol Advance Articles
Update on the detection of frailty in older adults: a multicenter cohort machine learning-based study protocol
- 1 Departamento de Fisioterapia, Universidad de Alcalá, Facultad de Enfermería y Fisioterapia, Grupo de Investigación en Fisioterapia y Dolor, Alcalá de Henares 28801, Spain
- 2 Interdisciplinary Research Group on Musculoskeletal Disorders, Madrid 28014, Spain
- 3 Physiotherapy and Orofacial Pain Working Group, Sociedad Española de Disfunción Craneomandibular y Dolor Orofacial (SEDCYDO), Madrid 28009, Spain
- 4 Geriatrics Service, Puerta de Hierro Hospital, Majadahonda 28222, Spain
- 5 Research Group in Nursing and Health Care, Puerta de Hierro Health Research Institute-Segovia de Arana (IDIPHISA), Majadahonda 28222, Spain
- 6 Physical Therapy Unit, Primary Health Care Center “El Abajón”, Las Rozas de Madrid 28231, Spain
- 7 Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL 33965, USA
Received: December 9, 2024 Accepted: May 1, 2025 Published: May 21, 2025
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.206254How to Cite
Copyright: © 2025 Fernández-Carnero et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background: This study aims to investigate the relationship between muscle activation variables assessed via ultrasound and the comprehensive assessment of geriatric patients, as well as to analyze ultrasound images to determine their correlation with morbimortality factors in frail patients.
Methods: The present cohort study will be conducted in 500 older adults diagnosed with frailty. A multicenter study will be conducted among the day care centers and nursing homes. This will be achieved through the evaluation of frail older adults via instrumental and functional tests, along with specific ultrasound images to study sarcopenia and nutrition, followed by a detailed analysis of the correlation between all collected variables.
Discussion: This study aims to investigate the correlation between ultrasound-assessed muscle activation variables and the overall health of geriatric patients. It addresses the limitations of previous research by including a large sample size of 500 patients and measuring various muscle parameters beyond thickness. Additionally, it aims to analyze ultrasound images to identify markers associated with higher risk of complications in frail patients. The study involves frail older adults undergoing functional tests and specific ultrasound examinations. A comprehensive analysis of functional, ultrasound, and nutritional variables will be conducted to understand their correlation with overall health and risk of complications in frail older patients.
Trial registration: The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, Madrid, Spain (Act nº 18/2023). In addition, the study was registered with https://clinicaltrials.gov/ (NCT06218121).
Abbreviations
IL-6: Interleukin-6; CRP: C-reactive protein; TNF-α: Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; IL-1β: Interleukin-1β; IL-8: Interleukin-8; SARC-F: Strength, assistance with walking, rising from a chair, climbing stairs, and falls questionnaire; DXA: Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry; CT: Computed Tomography; UL: Upper limbs; LL: Lower limbs; VAS: Visual Analogue Scale; GLIM: Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition; BMI: Body Mass Index; STAI: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; NPRS: Numeric Pain Rating Scale; TSK: Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia; BDI: Beck Depression Inventory; ROI: Region of interest; GLCM: Gray Level Co-Occurrence Matrices; GLRLM: Gray-Level Run-Length Matrix; LBP: Local Binary Patterns; GCP: Good Clinical Practice.