The Oral Symptom Assessment Scale in Older Patients With Frailty

Frailty Clinical Trial

Official title:

Oral Symptoms in Older Patients With Frailty: a Prospective Observational Study Using the Oral Symptom Assessment Scale

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT06286982
• Other study ID #: OASIS III
• Status: Recruiting
• Start date: June 6, 2023
• Est. completion date: July 6, 2024

Study information

• Verified date: March 2024
• Source: Our Lady's Hospice and Care Services
• Contact: Niamh M Cleary, MB MICGP
• Phone: +35387660366 (Ireland)
• Email: clearynm[@]tcd.ie
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

Oral (or mouth) symptoms are common in older patients who live with frailty. It is known that frailty describes someone's overall resilience and how this relates to the chances of recovery following a health problem. A questionnaire called the Oral Symptom Assessment Scale (or OSAS) was designed to look at mouth symptoms in patients who had an advanced cancer. These symptoms may overlap with patients who have frailty.

This research study is taking place to find out if the OSAS will be a suitable questionnaire that can be used in older patients with frailty.

This study will take place in Our Lady's Hospice & Care Services, Harold's Cross and St James' Hospital over six months.

Description:

Participants will be asked by one of our researchers about the presence or absence of 21 mouth symptoms in the last week. If present, the participant will be asked about how bothersome each symptom is as well as the severity and frequency. Up to three additional mouth symptoms that are not listed in the OSAS can be reported and rated in the same way by the participant. Participants will be asked about the questionnaire itself to provide feedback. This will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete both.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 250
• Est. completion date: July 6, 2024
• Est. primary completion date: July 6, 2024
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 65 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

• Age = 65 years old

• Clinical Frailty Score = 5

• No known history of dementia

• The attending clinician should have no concerns about a participant's capacity to consent for this research

Exclusion Criteria:

• Inability to provide informed consent

• Inability to complete the questionnaire

• Abbreviated Mental Test Score -4 (AMT4) <4

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Frailty
• Older Adults

Intervention

Other:
• Oral Symptom Assessment Scale
The Oral Symptom Assessment Scale is a patient-rated oral (or mouth) symptom assessment tool

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Ireland	Our Lady's Hospice and Care Services	Dublin
Ireland	St James's Hospital	Dublin

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Our Lady's Hospice and Care Services

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Ireland, 

References & Publications (6)

Davies A, Buchanan A, Todd J, Gregory A, Batsari KM. Oral symptoms in patients with advanced cancer: an observational study using a novel oral symptom assessment scale. Support Care Cancer. 2021 Aug;29(8):4357-4364. doi: 10.1007/s00520-020-05903-1. Epub 2021 Jan 8. — View Citation

Fried LP, Ferrucci L, Darer J, Williamson JD, Anderson G. Untangling the concepts of disability, frailty, and comorbidity: implications for improved targeting and care. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2004 Mar;59(3):255-63. doi: 10.1093/gerona/59.3.m255. — View Citation

Lindroos EK, Saarela RKT, Suominen MH, Muurinen S, Soini H, Kautiainen H, Pitkala KH. Burden of Oral Symptoms and Its Associations With Nutrition, Well-Being, and Survival Among Nursing Home Residents. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2019 May;20(5):537-543. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2018.10.025. Epub 2018 Dec 9. — View Citation

Locke T, Keat S, Tate M, Bown A, Hart A, Ghosh R. Assessing the performance of the four question abbreviated mental test in the acute geriatric setting. Acute Med. 2013;12(1):13-7. — View Citation

Miller MD, Paradis CF, Houck PR, Mazumdar S, Stack JA, Rifai AH, Mulsant B, Reynolds CF 3rd. Rating chronic medical illness burden in geropsychiatric practice and research: application of the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale. Psychiatry Res. 1992 Mar;41(3):237-48. doi: 10.1016/0165-1781(92)90005-n. — View Citation

Saarela RKT, Savikko NM, Soini H, Muurinen S, Suominen MH, Kautiainen H, Pitkala KH. Burden of Oral Symptoms and Health-Related Quality of Life in Long-Term Care Settings in Helsinki, Finland. J Nutr Health Aging. 2019;23(10):1021-1025. doi: 10.1007/s12603-019-1268-9. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	To determine the prevalence of oral symptoms in older patients with frailty	This will be determined by participants indicating the presence ( or absence) of any one of twenty-one oral symptoms on the oral symptom assessment scale.(OSAS).	In the previous 1 week
Primary	To determine the clinical features of these oral symptoms in this group (i.e. frequency, severity and level of distress)	If a participant indicates the presence of an oral symptom, they are asked to rate the frequency (rated : rarely (1), occasionally (2), frequently (3), almost constantly) (4), severity (rated: slight (1), moderate (2), severe (3), very severe (4)) and level of distress (rated: not at all (0.8), a little bit (1.6), somewhat (2.4), quite a bit (3.2), very much (4)) caused by each symptom. The higher the rating, the higher the frequency, severity or distress.	In the previous 1 week
Primary	To determine the relationship between oral symptoms and Clinical Frailty Score / Cumulative Illness Rating Scale for Geriatrics/Medications	The Clinical Frailty Score (CFS) is a clinician-rated single-item written and visual chart with nine graded illustrations. The baseline of the participant in the two weeks prior to presentation should form the basis of the score as opposed to the current, immediate presentation findings. The frailty cut-off point is = 5. It involves the evaluation of domains including cognition, function, and co-morbidity to produce the score. The Cumulative Illness Rating Scale for Geriatrics (CIR-G)is a scale designed to rate both the presence and severity of a disease in older persons. It encompasses information about both the long-term course and as well as current severity of a disease. It is acquired from patient medical records, interviews with patients as well as contemporaneous examination and test findings. A medication list (both regular and as needed medications) will be recorded.	In the previous 1 week
Primary	To provide initial validation of OSAS in older patients with frailty	OSAS refers to the Oral Symptom Assessment Scale - this a twenty item patient-rated oral symptom assessment instrument which was designed and has been validated in patients with advanced cancer. The symptom of 'drooling' will be added based on investigator experience. The rating system has been outlined above.	In the previous 1 week