“I know it when I see it...” – This famous phrase, written by Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart in his concurrence
to the majority decision in Jacobellis vs. Ohio in 1964, has a well-known parallel in clinical medicine: the “eyeball” test. Perhaps
nowhere in cardiovascular medicine is the eyeball test more widely applied than in
the assessment of frailty, a clinical entity marked by changes in physiologic and
cognitive function that leaves an individual more susceptible to adverse outcomes
in response to stress. The eyeball test is frequently central in clinical decision-making.
However, quantitative analyses of the eyeball test have shown that clinicians: (1)
do not accurately assess frailty and its associated risks; (2) are better at correctly
identifying non-frail rather than frail patients; and (3) exhibit high inter-observer
variability when attempting to gauge frailty.
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Hence, the eyeball test is neither accurate nor precise.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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References
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
March 6,
2023
Received:
March 6,
2023
Publication stage
In Press Journal Pre-ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Access this article on ScienceDirectLinked Article
- Hand Grip Strength Predicts Mortality and Quality of Life in Heart Failure: Insights From the Singapore Cohort of Patients With Advanced Heart FailureJournal of Cardiac Failure
- PreviewHeart failure (HF) is a complex clinical syndrome that affects more than 37.7 million individuals worldwide and carries a 5-year mortality rate of approximately 50% at initial diagnosis.1 Frailty is prevalent among patients with HF, with some studies estimating a prevalence of 20%–30%2,3 and others reporting a prevalence as high as 70%–90%.4,5 Patients with advanced HF who are frail are at a high risk of mortality, hospitalizations and worse quality of life (QoL).4–7 Recent studies have, therefore, focused on assessing the prevalence and reversibility of frailty among patients with HF.
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