Agreement Between Provider-Completed and Patient-Completed Preoperative Frailty Screening Using the Clinical Risk Analysis Index: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study

BackgroundFrailty is associated with postoperative morbidity and mortality. Preoperative screening and management of persons with frailty improves postoperative outcomes. The Clinical Risk Analysis Index (RAI-C) is a validated provider-based screening tool for assessing frail...

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Main Authors: Mehraneh Khalighi, Amy C Thomas, Karl J Brown, Katherine C Ritchey
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JMIR Publications 2025-02-01
Series:JMIR Perioperative Medicine
Online Access:https://periop.jmir.org/2025/1/e66440
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author Mehraneh Khalighi
Amy C Thomas
Karl J Brown
Katherine C Ritchey
author_facet Mehraneh Khalighi
Amy C Thomas
Karl J Brown
Katherine C Ritchey
author_sort Mehraneh Khalighi
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundFrailty is associated with postoperative morbidity and mortality. Preoperative screening and management of persons with frailty improves postoperative outcomes. The Clinical Risk Analysis Index (RAI-C) is a validated provider-based screening tool for assessing frailty in presurgical populations. Patient self-screening for frailty may provide an alternative to provider-based screening if resources are limited; however, the agreement between these 2 methods has not been previously explored. ObjectiveThe objective of our study was to examine provider-completed versus patient-completed RAI-C assessments to identify areas of disagreement between the 2 methods and inform best practices for RAI-C screening implementation. MethodsOrthopedic physicians and physician assistants completed the RAI-C assessment on veterans aged 65 years and older undergoing elective total joint arthroplasty (eg, total hip or knee arthroplasty) and documented scores into the electronic health record during their preoperative clinic evaluation. Participants were then mailed the same RAI-C form after preoperative evaluation and returned responses to study coordinators. Agreement between provider-completed and patient-completed RAI-C assessments and differences within individual domains were compared. ResultsA total of 49 participants aged 65 years and older presenting for total joint arthroplasty underwent RAI-C assessment between November 2022 and August 2023. In total, 41% (20/49) of participants completed and returned an independent postvisit RAI-C assessment before surgery and within 180 days of their initial evaluation. There was a moderate but statistically significant correlation between provider-completed and patient-completed RAI-C assessments (r=0.62; 95% CI 0.25-0.83; P=.003). Provider-completed and patient-completed RAI-C assessments resulted in the same frailty classification in 60% (12/20) of participants, but 40% (8/20) of participants were reclassified to a more frail category based on patient-completed assessment. Agreement was the lowest between provider-completed and patient-completed screening questions regarding memory and activities of daily living. ConclusionsRAI-C had moderate agreement when completed by providers versus the participants themselves, with more than a third of patient-completed screens resulting in a higher frailty classification. Future studies will need to explore the differences between and accuracy of RAI-C screening approaches to inform best practices for preoperative RAI-C assessment implementation.
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spelling doaj-art-f2b6d1de34a5456ba39636bfaa41abe52025-02-10T15:45:52ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Perioperative Medicine2561-91282025-02-018e6644010.2196/66440Agreement Between Provider-Completed and Patient-Completed Preoperative Frailty Screening Using the Clinical Risk Analysis Index: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire StudyMehraneh Khalighihttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4604-1425Amy C Thomashttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5957-0425Karl J Brownhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8132-1196Katherine C Ritcheyhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3490-3027 BackgroundFrailty is associated with postoperative morbidity and mortality. Preoperative screening and management of persons with frailty improves postoperative outcomes. The Clinical Risk Analysis Index (RAI-C) is a validated provider-based screening tool for assessing frailty in presurgical populations. Patient self-screening for frailty may provide an alternative to provider-based screening if resources are limited; however, the agreement between these 2 methods has not been previously explored. ObjectiveThe objective of our study was to examine provider-completed versus patient-completed RAI-C assessments to identify areas of disagreement between the 2 methods and inform best practices for RAI-C screening implementation. MethodsOrthopedic physicians and physician assistants completed the RAI-C assessment on veterans aged 65 years and older undergoing elective total joint arthroplasty (eg, total hip or knee arthroplasty) and documented scores into the electronic health record during their preoperative clinic evaluation. Participants were then mailed the same RAI-C form after preoperative evaluation and returned responses to study coordinators. Agreement between provider-completed and patient-completed RAI-C assessments and differences within individual domains were compared. ResultsA total of 49 participants aged 65 years and older presenting for total joint arthroplasty underwent RAI-C assessment between November 2022 and August 2023. In total, 41% (20/49) of participants completed and returned an independent postvisit RAI-C assessment before surgery and within 180 days of their initial evaluation. There was a moderate but statistically significant correlation between provider-completed and patient-completed RAI-C assessments (r=0.62; 95% CI 0.25-0.83; P=.003). Provider-completed and patient-completed RAI-C assessments resulted in the same frailty classification in 60% (12/20) of participants, but 40% (8/20) of participants were reclassified to a more frail category based on patient-completed assessment. Agreement was the lowest between provider-completed and patient-completed screening questions regarding memory and activities of daily living. ConclusionsRAI-C had moderate agreement when completed by providers versus the participants themselves, with more than a third of patient-completed screens resulting in a higher frailty classification. Future studies will need to explore the differences between and accuracy of RAI-C screening approaches to inform best practices for preoperative RAI-C assessment implementation.https://periop.jmir.org/2025/1/e66440
spellingShingle Mehraneh Khalighi
Amy C Thomas
Karl J Brown
Katherine C Ritchey
Agreement Between Provider-Completed and Patient-Completed Preoperative Frailty Screening Using the Clinical Risk Analysis Index: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study
JMIR Perioperative Medicine
title Agreement Between Provider-Completed and Patient-Completed Preoperative Frailty Screening Using the Clinical Risk Analysis Index: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study
title_full Agreement Between Provider-Completed and Patient-Completed Preoperative Frailty Screening Using the Clinical Risk Analysis Index: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study
title_fullStr Agreement Between Provider-Completed and Patient-Completed Preoperative Frailty Screening Using the Clinical Risk Analysis Index: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study
title_full_unstemmed Agreement Between Provider-Completed and Patient-Completed Preoperative Frailty Screening Using the Clinical Risk Analysis Index: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study
title_short Agreement Between Provider-Completed and Patient-Completed Preoperative Frailty Screening Using the Clinical Risk Analysis Index: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study
title_sort agreement between provider completed and patient completed preoperative frailty screening using the clinical risk analysis index cross sectional questionnaire study
url https://periop.jmir.org/2025/1/e66440
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AT karljbrown agreementbetweenprovidercompletedandpatientcompletedpreoperativefrailtyscreeningusingtheclinicalriskanalysisindexcrosssectionalquestionnairestudy
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