The Arabic (Jordan) version of the Tilburg Frailty Indicator

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Audai Abdel-Razzaq Hayajneh (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Jie Hu

Abstract: Frailty is a loss of human function in one or more physical, psychological, or social aspects and predisposes older adults to experience adverse health outcomes. In Jordan, the older adult population has not been treated as a separate group with their own health issues. A reliable and valid frailty instrument for use with the Jordanian population would be beneficial for identifying older adults who are frail. The Tilburg Frailty Indicator is one of the emerging frailty instruments used to screen for frailty in older adults. The purpose of this study was to establish the reliability and validity of the Arabic (Jordan) version of the Tilburg Frailty Indicator in older Jordanian adults. A total of 109 Jordanian community dwelling older adults from Irbid, Jordan were recruited for this study and were screened for frailty by using the Arabic (Jordan) Version of the Tilburg Frailty Indicator, a 15-item questionnaire. Reliability tests were conducted by determining KR 20 values and calculating inter-item (Tetrachoric), item-total (Point-Biserial), and subscale-subscale correlations (Pearson’s coefficient). The face, content, convergent, and divergent validity measures, and known group differences were used to test the validity of this instrument. The total score of the Arabic (Jordan) version of the Tilburg Frailty Indicator had good reliability (KR 20= 0.77) and good convergent and divergent validity with the corresponding scales: physical-TFI and the SF36-physical function (r= -0.317), psychological-TFI and GDS (r= 0.458), and social-TFI and the SF 36-social function (r= -0.304). In addition, known group differences showed that the Jordanian older adults who had comorbidities (n= 75, M= 5.6471, SD = 3.70) scored significantly higher on the frailty scale than those who did not have comorbidities (n= 34, M= 7.6133, SD = 3.10), t (107) = -2.887, p = 0.005). Hence, having comorbidities may contribute to frailty among older adults in Jordan. Conclusion: The Arabic (Jordan) version of the Tilburg Frailty Indicator is reliable and valid for use in Jordanian population.

Additional Information

Publication
Dissertation
Language: English
Date: 2016
Keywords
Arabic, Frailty, Geriatric Depression Scale, Jordan, Older-adults, Tilburg Frailty Indicator
Subjects
Frail elderly $x Health and hygiene $z Jordan
Older people $x Health risk assessment $z Jordan
Social medicine

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