Agreement Between In‐Person and Remote Administration of the Clinical‐Functional Vulnerability Index‐20 for Frailty Screening in Older Adults

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the agreement between the in-person and remote (telephone and online) administration of the Clinical-Functional Vulnerability Index-20 (IVCF-20) for the frailty assessment of older adults. METHODS: In this methodological study, the IVCF-20 was applied in three different formats: in-person, telephone (voice call), and online (Google Forms). The order of administration was random, and the interval between sessions was five-seven days. The participants were individuals aged > 60 years and had the cognitive ability to answer simple questions. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was used to assess the level of agreement between the total scores obtained through the three methods, and the weighted kappa for agreement between the scores of each item. RESULTS: Fifty-six older adults were included in the study. The level of agreement for the total scores between the IVCF-20 and IVCF-20-Remote applied by telephone was high (ICC = 0.87), while the Kappa coefficient ranged from 0.22 (Item 14) to 1.0 (Item 1). The level of agreement for the total scores between the IVCF-20 and IVCF-20-Remote applied online was high (ICC = 0.90), while the Kappa coefficient ranged from 0.23 (Item 14) to 1.0 (Item 1). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated high agreement between the IVCF-20 and the IVCF-20-Remote (telephone and online). Thus, IVCF-20-Remote has emerged as a viable alternative for screening older adults, expanding access to geriatric assessment, and promoting continuity of care.