Development of Frailty Indicators for the Community-Dwelling Older Adults

背景　高齡化社會的快速到來，使老化衰弱問題成為重要議題。儘管認同老化衰弱的評估在進行照護規劃的重要性，但目前對於老化衰弱的評估並沒有一致的看法。目的　藉由進行老化衰弱之質性與量性結果交叉比較，以初步建立臺灣老年人老化衰弱的指標。方法　兼顧質性及量性研究法，在2010年8月至9月期間，於北臺灣六所老人服務中心方便取樣10位社區住民。研究者用深度訪談及錄音來收集資料，同時根據生理、功能和心理社會健康三層面之質化分析結果，研究者以擬定之一系列健康評估逐一評估受訪者，並記錄其量化結果。結果　本研究共訪談及評估10位女性老人，依成功老化的定義，呈現在「整體功能能力」、「心理健康」及「生理健康」之三個主題下之老化衰弱經驗和感受。進一步將受訪者的老化衰弱狀況與老化衰弱感受進行比較，以確認質化和量化結果的一致性。結果發現，雖然評估結果顯示受訪者雖處於相對健康的狀態，但在訪談中仍有許多關於老化衰弱的主訴，顯見現有評量工具之限制。結論／實務應用　老化衰弱指標的建立，可作為評估個案整體性健康的表現，期望本結果可使醫療照護人員能夠深入的瞭解老年人老化衰弱過程。

關鍵字

老化衰弱；老化衰弱指標；多元研究法

並列摘要

Background: Faster than anticipated increases in population, aging is making the issue of frailty among the elderly increasingly important. Despite general agreement that a frailty assessment is important for planning care for the older adults, a lack of consensus remains regarding the best methodology to use for frailty assessments.Purpose: The aim of this study was first to cross-examine results between perception of frailty and physical assessment outcomes then try to establish frailty indicators for elderly people in Taiwan.Methods: This study used both qualitative and quantitative methods. From August to September 2010, researchers recruited a convenience sample of 10 community older adults from six different elderly centers in northern Taiwan. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted in Mandarin or Taiwanese and audiotaped. After the in-depth interview, researchers conducted a series of physical assessments on the participants.Results: Ten elderly women were interviewed and assessed. The three themes identified by this study related to frailty perception included overall physical function performance, psychological health, and physiological health. These reflected the concept of successful aging. Participant frailty was compared with subjective perceptions to identify and/or check for consistency between qualitative and quantitative results. Although quantitative results revealed that participants were in fairly good health, there were many complaints about frailty during the qualitative interview. Better sensitive measures reflecting frailty changes are thus needed.Conclusions: These indicators can be considered as an integration of all maintained functions. We hope that results will provide better insights into understanding the process of frailty among the older adults.

並列關鍵字

frailty ； frailty indicator ； triangulation

參考文獻

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