Table 1.

Adjustments to the Fried frailty criteria from the Cardiovascular Health Study

Characteristics	Original criteria	Modifications
Weight loss	Greater than 10 lbs unintentional weight loss in prior year at baseline from questionnaire or Greater than 5% of weight loss based on weight at previous year at follow-up (by direct measurement of weight)	Greater than 10 lbs unintentional weight loss in prior 6 months at baseline or Greater than 5% of weight loss during first 6 months of trial Intentional versus unintentional cause was not determined Data came from patient’s medical record
Weakness	Grip strength: lowest 20% (stratified by gender and body mass index)	Grip strength at baseline and 6 months: lowest 20% (stratified by gender)
Exhaustion	Self-report based on questions from CES-D scale at baseline33	Self-report based on question 4 from Patient Health Questionnaire 914 at baseline and 6 months Question: “Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by feeling tired or having little energy?” Answer: “More than half the days” or “Nearly every day”
Low activity	Weighted score of kilocalories expended per week at baseline: lowest 20% (stratified by gender)	Short Form-12 physical score at baseline and 6 months: lowest 20% (stratified by gender)15
Slow gait speed	Slowest 20% at baseline based on time to walk 15 feet (stratified by gender and standing height)	Gait speed at baseline and 6 months based on walking time/6 m): lowest 20% (stratified by gender and standing height) Gender specific cutoff at 50th percentile of height

Note: Fried LP, Tangen CM, Walston J, et al. Frailty in older adults: evidence for a phenotype. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2001;56(3):M146–M157. Adapted with permission from Oxford University Press.¹

Abbreviation: CES-D, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression.