Year: 2025 | Month: November | Volume: 15 | Issue: 11 | Pages: 237-243
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijhsr.20251129
Reliability and Validity of Gujarati version of the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI)
Dr. Krishna Bhimani (PT)1, Dr. Vipra Shah (PT)2
1Physiotherapist, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
2Associate Professor & Principal, Apollo Institute of Physiotherapy, SNME Campus, Enasan, Ahmedabad, India.
Corresponding Author: Dr. Krishna Bhimani (PT)
ABSTRACT
Background: The Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI) is self-reported questionnaire to screen for The Frailty. The questionnaire consists of 15 questions designed to screen frailty in community-dwelling older people. TFI has a multidimensional approach to frailty, that includes physical, psychological, and social dimensions. It diagnoses frailty based on three domains: Physical, Psychological and Social. The TFI is brief, easy to complete, and applicable in both research and clinical practice. It offers a holistic assessment of an individual’s vulnerability, helping healthcare professionals identify frail individuals early and implement suitable preventive or rehabilitative measures.
AIM: The aim of the study is to find out the reliability and validity of the Gujarati version of the Tilburg Frailty Indicator in community dwelling older adults.
Materials and Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2023 to January 2024 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. A cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2023 to January 2024 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The TFI was translated into Gujarati language according to Beaton guideline after obtaining permission from the author. A total of 150 participants and eight professionals with more than 12 years of experience in the field of Geriatric medicine, Physical Therapy and Healthcare area were involved in the examination of each item of the Gujarati version of TFI. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0 was used for the statistical analysis.
Result: Mean age of the participants was 69.5±8.5. The Content Validity Ratio (CVR) for item 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25 was 0.75 and for item 13, 14, 18, 19, 23 the value was 1. Internal consistency of Gujarati TFI was calculated through Cronbach’s alpha (α=0.994) suggesting high internal consistency. Test-retest reliability of TFI was calculated through the Interclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC=0.987) suggesting excellent test-retest reliability.
Conclusion: The TFI-Gujarati is proved as an easy-to-administer, reliable, valid, and reproducible tool for the assessment of frailty among Gujarati community dwelling older adults. Our research suggests that this information will support researchers, policymakers and health care professionals in interpreting scores of the TFI, which may guide their efforts to reduce frailty and its adverse outcomes.
Key words: Tilburg Frailty Indicator, Frailty, Reliability and Validity, Cross cultural comparisons, Translation