TY - JOUR T1 - Practical lessons in implementing frailty assessments for hospitalised patients with COPD JF - BMJ Open Quality JO - BMJ Open Qual DO - 10.1136/bmjoq-2019-000782 VL - 9 IS - 1 SP - e000782 AU - Melanie Chin AU - Nha Voduc AU - Shirley Huang AU - Alan Forster AU - Sunita Mulpuru Y1 - 2020/01/01 UR - http://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/9/1/e000782.abstract N2 - Frailty is a comprehensive health measure characterised by an individual’s vulnerability and diminished reserve when faced with health stressors.1–3 As one becomes increasingly frail, the ability to recover from acute illnesses is impaired, leading to progressive disability, increased risk of hospitalisation, need for supportive living environments and death.1 4–6 Current estimates suggest that 40% of community-dwelling adults are at risk of becoming frail, while 40% of hospitalised patients are ‘vulnerable’ or ‘mildly frail’.5 7 8 Hospitalisation is a key risk factor for the progression of frailty, especially among older adults.5 9–11 Frailty is measured with the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), a validated measure that is correlated with a comprehensive Frailty Index.1 Assessing frailty during patient encounters could help clarify the appropriateness of interventions and improve prognostication and shared decision making, which are essential components of patient-centred care.2 12–15 Our health system is currently organised to address single organ illnesses and frailty is often overlooked as a consequence of normal ageing.16 This pilot project was designed to assess the feasibility of implementing the CFS among hospitalised patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), to assess the differences in frailty assessments between health providers, and to understand the distribution of frailty among hospitalised patients with COPD.Over an 11-month period, the CFS was included in routine nursing assessments on a respiratory ward at a tertiary care hospital (online supplementary appendix 1). Frailty assessments were linked to a clinical pathway designed to allocate supportive resources … ER -