Development and Evaluation of a Software Designed by a Nursing and Technology Team to Assess the Health Status of Adults over 65 Years of Age.
Víctor Pérez Cantó, Víctor M González Chorda, Francisco Miguel Escandell Rico and 5 others
PMID 39083834WHAT IT FOUND
A nurse-led app completed 214-item health assessments in 35 minutes on average, and 47 of 85 adults over 65 were frail.
It flags needs, but no evidence yet that it improves care.
Key findings
01The Actuasalud platform used 214 items and took nurses an average of 35 minutes to complete the assessment.
02Of the 85 adults assessed, 47 were classified as frail and 38 as not frail.
03Frailty was associated with differences in several care needs, including cognition, daily activities, mobility, hearing, falls, pressure-ulcer risk, and pain.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study assessed only 85 adults over 65 who were not institutionalised and had no cognitive impairment, so it says little about people with cognitive impairment or living in institutions. There was no control group, no random assignment and no follow-up, so it does not show that the software changes care or health outcomes. The app's scores were checked against the assessing nurse's perception in consensus meetings, not against an independent reference standard. The paper reports both 131 and 214 items for the assessment, so the true item burden is unclear. Participants were recruited through nurses who collaborated in the project, which may select people willing to be assessed.
Declared interests
Funded by Agencia Valenciana de Innovación and Universidad de Alicante. The paper does not provide a separate author conflict-of-interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that Actuasalud improves care for older adults. It was developed and checked in 85 adults without cognitive impairment, and the study reports no outcomes after follow-up.