TY - JOUR AU - Valdés-Aragonés, Myriam AU - Pérez-Rodríguez, Rodrigo AU - Carnicero, José Antonio AU - Moreno-Sánchez, Pedro A AU - Oviedo-Briones, Myriam AU - Villalba-Mora, Elena AU - Abizanda-Soler, Pedro AU - Rodríguez-Mañas, Leocadio PY - 2024 DA - 2024/10/22 TI - Effects of Monitoring Frailty Through a Mobile/Web-Based Application and a Sensor Kit to Prevent Functional Decline in Frail and Prefrail Older Adults: FACET (Frailty Care and Well Function) Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial JO - J Med Internet Res SP - e58312 VL - 26 KW - frailty KW - functional status KW - older adults KW - new technologies KW - sensor KW - monitoring system KW - information and communication technologies KW - mobile app KW - sensor kit KW - sensors KW - technological ecosystem KW - clinical intervention AB - Background: Frailty represents a state of susceptibility to stressors and constitutes a dynamic process. Untreated, this state can progress to disability. Hence, timely detection of alterations in patients’ frailty status is imperative to institute prompt clinical interventions and impede frailty progression. With this aim, the FACET (Frailty Care and Well Function) technological ecosystem was developed to provide clinically gathered data from the home to a medical team for early intervention. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess whether the FACET technological ecosystem prevents frailty progression and improves frailty status, according to the frailty phenotype criteria and Frailty Trait Scale-5 items (FTS-5) at 3 and 6 months of follow-up. Methods: This randomized clinical trial involved 90 older adults aged ≥70 years meeting 2 or more Fried frailty phenotype criteria, having 4 or more comorbidities, and having supervision at home. This study was conducted between August 2018 and June 2019 at the geriatrics outpatient clinics in Getafe University Hospital and Albacete University Hospital. Participants were randomized into a control group receiving standard treatment and the intervention group receiving standard treatment along with the FACET home monitoring system. The system monitored functional tests at home (gait speed, chair stand test, frailty status, and weight). Outcomes were assessed using multivariate linear regression models for continuous response and multivariate logistic models for dichotomous response. P values less than .05 were considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of the participants was 82.33 years, with 28% (25/90) being males. Participants allocated to the intervention group showed a 74% reduction in the risk of deterioration in the FTS-5 score (P=.04) and 92% lower likelihood of worsening by 1 point according to Fried frailty phenotype criteria compared to the control group (P=.02) at 6 months of follow-up. Frailty status, when assessed through FTS-5, improved in the intervention group at 3 months (P=.004) and 6 months (P=.047), while when the frailty phenotype criteria were used, benefits were shown at 3 months of follow-up (P=.03) but not at 6 months. Conclusions: The FACET technological ecosystem helps in the early identification of changes in the functional status of prefrail and frail older adults, facilitating prompt clinical interventions, thereby improving health outcomes in terms of frailty and functional status and potentially preventing disability and dependency. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03707145; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03707145 SN - 1438-8871 UR - https://www.jmir.org/2024/1/e58312 UR - https://doi.org/10.2196/58312 UR - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/39436684 DO - 10.2196/58312 ID - info:doi/10.2196/58312 ER -