Development of an ICF Core Set for frailty older people – Study Protocol

Abstract Frailty is more common as age increases but is not synonymous of ageing. Identifying frail older people should be one of the bases of geriatric care, since this is a complex and important issue associated with aging, with implications for older people and for the functioning of health services. The ICF has the potential to design standardized coding for the various health domains, characterizing the specific functional challenges of individuals, being a first step towards the standardization of the evaluation of results, with several additional advantages. The development of a Core Set allows the creation of practical instruments adjusted to a specific health condition, sufficiently comprehensive and multidisciplinary. It involves formal decision-making and a consensus-seeking process that integrates not only the evidence found in preliminary and already conducted studies but also the creation of a focus group with frail older people, health professionals and experts. We aim to develop an ICF Core Set for frailty and identifying the categories of the ICF most applicable to the weak, according to the frail older people’s perspective and based on international consensus