The Lung Transplant Frailty Scale (LT-FS) is a novel, disease-specific frailty measure for lung transplantation. The scale was developed in a three-center cohort study between UCSF, University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University. We developed and preliminarily validated the LT-FS, which has a superior face, construct, and predictive validity compared to existing measures, the Fried Frailty Phenotype (FFP) and the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB).
We used an established approach to develop three candidate scale measures:
- LT-FS-Base, which uses readily available clinical data
- LT-FS-Body Composition, which includes measures of body composition in addition to the LT-FS-Base variables
- LT-FS-Biomarker, which includes research-grade novel biomarkers in addition to the LT-FS-Body composition variables
To use the LT-FS calculators, all users should refer to these instructions for collecting data.
The published research study about this scale can be accessed here: LINK
We hope that the LT-FS can aid efforts to define the role of frailty in the transplant evaluation process and advance efforts to study its development and treatment.