Abstract
Background
There is lack of standardisation in assessment tools used in geriatric medicine research, which makes pooling of data and cross-study comparisons difficult.
Methods
We conducted a modified Delphi process to establish measures to be included within core and extended datasets for geriatric medicine research in the United Kingdom (UK). This included three complete questionnaire rounds, and one consensus meeting. Participants were selected from attendance at the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre meeting, May 2019, and academic geriatric medicine e-mailing lists. Literature review was used to develop the initial questionnaire, with all responses then included in the second questionnaire. The third questionnaire used refined options from the second questionnaire with response ranking.
Results
Ninety-eight responses were obtained across all questionnaire rounds (Initial: 19, Second: 21, Third: 58) from experienced and early career researchers in geriatric medicine. The initial questionnaire included 18 questions with short text responses, including one question for responders to suggest additional items. Twenty-six questions were included in the second questionnaire, with 108 within category options. The third questionnaire included three ranking, seven final agreement, and four binary option questions. Results were discussed at the consensus meeting. In our position statement, the final consensus dataset includes six core domains: demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status), specified morbidities, functional ability (Barthel and/or Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living), Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), cognition, and patient-reported outcome measures (dependent on research question). We also propose how additional variables should be measured within an extended dataset.
Conclusions
Our core and extended datasets represent current consensus opinion of academic geriatric medicine clinicians across the UK. We consider the development and further use of these datasets will strengthen collaboration between researchers and academic institutions.
There is lack of standardisation in assessment tools used in geriatric medicine research, which makes pooling of data and cross-study comparisons difficult.
Methods
We conducted a modified Delphi process to establish measures to be included within core and extended datasets for geriatric medicine research in the United Kingdom (UK). This included three complete questionnaire rounds, and one consensus meeting. Participants were selected from attendance at the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre meeting, May 2019, and academic geriatric medicine e-mailing lists. Literature review was used to develop the initial questionnaire, with all responses then included in the second questionnaire. The third questionnaire used refined options from the second questionnaire with response ranking.
Results
Ninety-eight responses were obtained across all questionnaire rounds (Initial: 19, Second: 21, Third: 58) from experienced and early career researchers in geriatric medicine. The initial questionnaire included 18 questions with short text responses, including one question for responders to suggest additional items. Twenty-six questions were included in the second questionnaire, with 108 within category options. The third questionnaire included three ranking, seven final agreement, and four binary option questions. Results were discussed at the consensus meeting. In our position statement, the final consensus dataset includes six core domains: demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status), specified morbidities, functional ability (Barthel and/or Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living), Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), cognition, and patient-reported outcome measures (dependent on research question). We also propose how additional variables should be measured within an extended dataset.
Conclusions
Our core and extended datasets represent current consensus opinion of academic geriatric medicine clinicians across the UK. We consider the development and further use of these datasets will strengthen collaboration between researchers and academic institutions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 168 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | BMC Geriatrics |
| Volume | 23 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 23 Mar 2023 |
Bibliographical note
FundingAS and MW are funded by the Newcastle National Institute for Health (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre, which also funded the initial meeting of academic clinicians in geriatric medicine during the Delphi process. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR, the NHS, or the Department of Health.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the contributions of members of the UK Geriatric Medicine Core Dataset Extended Working Group.
Data Availability Statement
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.Keywords
- Minimum dataset
- Frailty
- ADL
- CFS
- Barthel