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CSHA Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS)
A clinician-judgement scale that summarises an older adult's overall fitness or frailty in nine levels.
CSHA Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS)
Overall clinical impression of fitness/frailty
ResultCFS 1 - Very fit
Score reflects functional status roughly 2 weeks before any acute illness, not the current acute presentation.
- Clinical Frailty Scale level
- 1
When to use
- Rapid bedside summary of baseline frailty to inform prognosis and shared decision-making, e.g. before ICU admission or major surgery.
- Tracking frailty trajectory over time in older adults.
Formula
Single clinician-judgement item selecting the level (1-9) that best matches the patient's baseline function, mobility, and dependence, based on the assessor's overall clinical impression rather than a summed score.
Pearls and pitfalls
- Should reflect the patient's usual baseline status, not their status during an acute illness or hospitalisation.
- Not intended for use in patients with stable long-standing disability (e.g. from a single prior stroke) without evidence of progressive frailty.