Evaluation of the perception and knowledge about frailty and frailty assessment among anesthesiology and reanimation professionals

Frailty is a geriatric syndrome which is formed by the addition of social, functional, and cognitive deficits to a phenotype consisting of physical disabilities. We aim to evaluate the anesthesiologists' attitudes towards frailty and frailty tests and developing the Health Professionals' Frailty Perception Scale. Between July 2021 and November 2021, 284 volunteers, consisting of Anesthesiology and Reanimation residents and specialists, and sub-branch residents and physicians were reached. 75.4% (n=212) of total participants were between the ages of 24-34, and 60.12% (n=169) were residents. 49.8% (n=140) of the physicians had no perception of frailty 95.7% (n=269) did not have a routine screening test used in their clinics, and only 12.5% (n=35) stated that they had a previous frailty screening test. We reached a belief that the Anesthesiology and Reanimation physicians have a lack of understanding but a significant awareness of frailty however, their rate of using frailty screening tests is not sufficient enough. Cronbach alpha was 0.792 for this scale. According to analyses of content validity, face validity and construct validity we presented our scale is reliable and feasible. After evaluation, it has seen that physicians' disability (2.64±0.52) and self-efficacy (2.43±0.52) sub-dimension scores were low. There was no statistically significant difference between the scale scores of residents, specialist physicians, and lecturers (p> 0.05). The usage of the "Health Professionals' Frailty Perception Scale "may be beneficial to evaluate the physicians' attitudes towards this clinical entity and compare the perspectives of different health professionals and determine the obstacles in front of optimal care.