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OBJECTIVES: To assess the reliability, construct validity, and predictive (concurrent) validity of the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI), a self-report questionnaire for measuring frailty in older persons. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Community-based. PARTICIPANTS: Two representative samples of community-dwelling persons aged 75 years and older (n = 245; n = 234). MEASUREMENTS: The TFI was validated using the LASA Physical Activity Questionnaire, BMI, Timed Up & Go test, Four test balance scale, Grip strength test, Shortened Fatigue Questionnaire, Mini-Mental State Examination, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Anxiety subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Mastery Scale, Loneliness Scale, and the Social Support List. Adverse outcomes were measured using the Groningen Activity Restriction Scale and questions regarding health care use. Quality of life was measured using the WHOQOL-BREF. RESULTS: The test-retest reliability of the TFI was good: 0.79 for frailty, and from 0.67 to 0.78 for its domains for a 1-year time interval. The 15 single components, and the frailty domains (physical, psychological, social) of the TFI correlated as expected with validated measures, demonstrating both convergent and divergent construct validity of the TFI. The predictive validity of the TFI and its physical domain was good for quality of life and the adverse outcomes disability and receiving personal care, nursing, and informal care. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that the psychometric properties of the TFI are good, when performed in 2 samples of community-dwelling older people. The results regarding the TFI's validity provide strong evidence for an integral definition of frailty consisting of physical, psychological, and social domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: To determine which determinants predict frailty and domains of frailty (physical, psychological, social) in a community-dwelling sample of elderly persons. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Community-based. PARTICIPANTS: A representative sample of 484 community-dwelling persons aged 75 years and older. MEASUREMENTS: The Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI), a self-report questionnaire, was used to collect information about determinants of frailty and to assess frailty and domains of frailty (physical, psychological, social). RESULTS: Results were obtained by regression and mediation analyses. The 10 determinants explain about 35% of the variance of frailty. After controlling for other determinants, medium income, an unhealthy lifestyle, and multimorbidity predicted frailty. The effects of other determinants differed across domains of frailty; age predicted physical frailty, life events predicted psychological frailty, whereas being a woman predicted social frailty because older women have a higher probability of living alone. CONCLUSION: Our finding that the effect of the determinants of frailty differs across frailty domains suggests that it is essential to divide the concept of frailty into domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]