Language

English

Publication Date

6-1-2025

Journal

ESC Heart Failure

DOI

10.1002/ehf2.15187

PMID

39904922

PMCID

PMC12055373

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

2-4-2025

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Abstract

Aims: The Heart Failure Frailty Score (HFFS) is a novel, multidimensional tool to assess frailty in patients with heart failure (HF). It has been developed to overcome limitations of existing frailty assessment tools while being practical for clinical use. The HFFS reflects the concept of frailty as a multidimensional, dynamic and potentially reversible state, which increases vulnerability to stressors and risk of poor outcomes in patients with HF.

Methods and results: The HFFS was developed through a Delphi consensus process involving 54 international experts. This approach involved iterative rounds of questionnaires and interviews, where a panel of experts provided their opinions on specific questions prepared by the Steering Committee. The experts were invited to vote and share their views anonymously, using a 5-point Likert scale over iterative rounds. An 80% threshold was set for agreement or disagreement for each statement. Twenty-two variables from four domains (clinical, functional, psycho-cognitive and social) have been selected for inclusion in the HFFS after the third round of the Delphi process. A shorter version (S-HFFS), including 10 variables, has also been developed for daily clinical use.

Conclusions: The HFFS is a new multidimensional tool for the identification of frailty in patients with HF. It should also enables healthcare providers to identify potential 'red flags' for frailty in order to develop personalized care plans. The next step will be to validate the new score in patients with HF.

Keywords

Humans, Heart Failure, Frailty, Delphi Technique, Consensus, Surveys and Questionnaires, Aged, Male, Female, Geriatric Assessment, Frailty, Heart failure, Management, Prognosis, Score

Published Open-Access

yes

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