Published

2025-03-14

Measuring Frailty in Old Age: Rasch Analysis of the FRAIL Scale

Medición de la fragilidad en la vejez: análisis Rasch de la escala FRAIL

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15446/rcp.v34n1.112432

Keywords:

Elderly, Frailty, validation study, psychometrics (en)
Anciano, fragilidad, estudio de validación, psicometría. (es)

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Authors

  • Víctor Hugo Arboleda Campo Universidad CES https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5620-0632
  • Diego Fernando Rojas Gualdrón Universidad CES
  • Diana Isabel Muñoz Rodríguez Universidad CES
  • Dorys Cardona Arango Investigador
  • Angela María Segura Cardona Universidad CES
  • Alejandra Segura Cardona Universidad CES

Objective. To evaluate by Rasch analysis the validity of the FRAIL scale for measuring frailty in older people in Colombia. Methods. Cross-sectional study including 2506 people aged ≥60 years living in Bucaramanga, Medellín, Pereira, Popayán, and Santa Marta in 2021. Guidelines for analysis of the FRAIL scale were followed and the Raschmodel was used with adjustment of response categories, items and people, differential functioning of the items, dimensionality, local independence of the items, Wright reliability, and adjustments of the infit and outfit mean squares. Results. Overfitting of the weight loss item was identified although it did not compromise the unidimensionality or the total score. Wright reliability was 0.80; the measure explained 45.2% of the variance in raw scores. Conclusions. TheFRAIL scale is a valid tool for assessing frailty in elderly people. It is unidimensional, reliable and unbiased by age forthe frail state but not for the prefrail condition. Inclusion of the gender variable and categorization of the age variable with 70 years as cut-off point are suggested.

Objetivo. Evaluar la validez de la escala FRAIL para medir la fragilidad en personas mayores de Colombia, mediante el análisis Rasch. Métodos. Estudio transversal, con la participación de 2506 personas de 60 y más años, residentes en cinco ciudades de Colombia en el 2021. Se siguieron los lineamientos para análisis de la escala de FRAIL, usando el modelo Rasch con ajuste de categorías de respuesta, de los ítems y las personas, funcionamiento diferencial de los ítems, dimensionalidad e independencia local de los ítems y confiabilidad Wright, con ajustes de las medias cuadráticas Infit y Outfit. Resultados. Se identificó sobreajuste del ítem pérdida de peso, pero no compromete la unidimensionalidad ni el puntaje total. La confiabilidad Wright fue de 0,80, la medida explicó el 45,2% de la varianza de las puntuaciones crudas. Conclusiones. La escala FRAIL es una medición válida para determinan la fragilidad de la persona mayor, unidimensional, confiable e insesgada por edad para el estado frágil, no tanto para la condición prefragil. También se sugiere la inclusión de la variable sexo y categorizar la variable edad, con 70 años como punto de corte.

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How to Cite

APA

Arboleda Campo, V. H., Rojas Gualdrón, D. F., Muñoz Rodríguez, D. I., Cardona Arango, D., Segura Cardona, A. M. and Segura Cardona, A. (2025). Measuring Frailty in Old Age: Rasch Analysis of the FRAIL Scale. Revista Colombiana de Psicología, 34(1), 11–24. https://doi.org/10.15446/rcp.v34n1.112432

ACM

[1]
Arboleda Campo, V.H., Rojas Gualdrón, D.F., Muñoz Rodríguez, D.I., Cardona Arango, D., Segura Cardona, A.M. and Segura Cardona, A. 2025. Measuring Frailty in Old Age: Rasch Analysis of the FRAIL Scale. Revista Colombiana de Psicología. 34, 1 (Mar. 2025), 11–24. DOI:https://doi.org/10.15446/rcp.v34n1.112432.

ACS

(1)
Arboleda Campo, V. H.; Rojas Gualdrón, D. F.; Muñoz Rodríguez, D. I.; Cardona Arango, D.; Segura Cardona, A. M.; Segura Cardona, A. Measuring Frailty in Old Age: Rasch Analysis of the FRAIL Scale. Rev. colomb. psicol. 2025, 34, 11-24.

ABNT

ARBOLEDA CAMPO, V. H.; ROJAS GUALDRÓN, D. F.; MUÑOZ RODRÍGUEZ, D. I.; CARDONA ARANGO, D.; SEGURA CARDONA, A. M.; SEGURA CARDONA, A. Measuring Frailty in Old Age: Rasch Analysis of the FRAIL Scale. Revista Colombiana de Psicología, [S. l.], v. 34, n. 1, p. 11–24, 2025. DOI: 10.15446/rcp.v34n1.112432. Disponível em: https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/psicologia/article/view/112432. Acesso em: 29 mar. 2025.

Chicago

Arboleda Campo, Víctor Hugo, Diego Fernando Rojas Gualdrón, Diana Isabel Muñoz Rodríguez, Dorys Cardona Arango, Angela María Segura Cardona, and Alejandra Segura Cardona. 2025. “Measuring Frailty in Old Age: Rasch Analysis of the FRAIL Scale”. Revista Colombiana De Psicología 34 (1):11-24. https://doi.org/10.15446/rcp.v34n1.112432.

Harvard

Arboleda Campo, V. H., Rojas Gualdrón, D. F., Muñoz Rodríguez, D. I., Cardona Arango, D., Segura Cardona, A. M. and Segura Cardona, A. (2025) “Measuring Frailty in Old Age: Rasch Analysis of the FRAIL Scale”, Revista Colombiana de Psicología, 34(1), pp. 11–24. doi: 10.15446/rcp.v34n1.112432.

IEEE

[1]
V. H. Arboleda Campo, D. F. Rojas Gualdrón, D. I. Muñoz Rodríguez, D. Cardona Arango, A. M. Segura Cardona, and A. Segura Cardona, “Measuring Frailty in Old Age: Rasch Analysis of the FRAIL Scale”, Rev. colomb. psicol., vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 11–24, Mar. 2025.

MLA

Arboleda Campo, V. H., D. F. Rojas Gualdrón, D. I. Muñoz Rodríguez, D. Cardona Arango, A. M. Segura Cardona, and A. Segura Cardona. “Measuring Frailty in Old Age: Rasch Analysis of the FRAIL Scale”. Revista Colombiana de Psicología, vol. 34, no. 1, Mar. 2025, pp. 11-24, doi:10.15446/rcp.v34n1.112432.

Turabian

Arboleda Campo, Víctor Hugo, Diego Fernando Rojas Gualdrón, Diana Isabel Muñoz Rodríguez, Dorys Cardona Arango, Angela María Segura Cardona, and Alejandra Segura Cardona. “Measuring Frailty in Old Age: Rasch Analysis of the FRAIL Scale”. Revista Colombiana de Psicología 34, no. 1 (March 14, 2025): 11–24. Accessed March 29, 2025. https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/psicologia/article/view/112432.

Vancouver

1.
Arboleda Campo VH, Rojas Gualdrón DF, Muñoz Rodríguez DI, Cardona Arango D, Segura Cardona AM, Segura Cardona A. Measuring Frailty in Old Age: Rasch Analysis of the FRAIL Scale. Rev. colomb. psicol. [Internet]. 2025 Mar. 14 [cited 2025 Mar. 29];34(1):11-24. Available from: https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/psicologia/article/view/112432

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