Utility of the Edmonton Frail Scale in identifying frail elderly patients during treatment of colorectal cancer

摘要

Background: Frailty has been proposed by geriatricians as an indicator of functional age. The Edmonton Frail Scale (EFS) is a 15-point incremental scale; it is quick ( Methods: The EFS was administered to stage II–IV CRC patients ≥70 years. EFS assessment was completed by one of the investigators, with the treating oncology team blinded to the results. Results: A total of 46 patients were enrolled, and the EFS was reproduced in 32 patients at two visits (r=0.81; 95% CI: 0.64–0.90, P Conclusions: This exploratory study suggests that EFS can identify patients that oncologists may have thought were too frail for chemotherapy, independent of PS. Therefore, the EFS has the potential to add a reproducible, and quantifiable measure of frailty to the clinician’s decision making toolset. A follow up study will employ the EFS in real-time, and determine if using the EFS can minimize complications and unplanned health care utilization in elderly cancer patients.