🧓 Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS)
The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) grades overall frailty in older or chronically ill patients on a 1–9 ordinal scale to inform risk and treatment decisions.
Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS)
Frailty level
When to use
Select the descriptor that best matches the patient's baseline state (about two weeks before the acute illness); the tool returns the grade and a frailty stratum.
How it works
Ordinal judgement, not a sum: 1 very fit → 9 terminally ill. Grades 1–3 not frail, 4 vulnerable/pre-frail, 5–6 mild–moderate frailty, 7–9 severe frailty.
Key points
- Grade the chronic baseline two weeks before presentation rather than the acute deterioration, otherwise an acutely unwell but previously robust patient is over-scored (original synthesis · not guideline verbatim).
- Higher CFS correlates with more postoperative complications, longer admission, and higher mortality, and supports shared benefit–risk discussion for surgery, ICU admission, or cancer therapy.
- It is a judgement aid, not a substitute for comprehensive geriatric assessment, and is less validated in younger adults or stable single-system disability.
References
Decision support for licensed clinicians only; not a substitute for clinical judgement, diagnosis or local protocols.