Geriatric Medicine Research

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Geriatric Medicine Research · Dalhousie University and Nova Scotia Health

GMR Toolkit

Fit-to-Frail Index Calculator

Answer 62 questions about your everyday activities and health to calculate your frailty index, and see how it compares with people of your age and sex.

Completed by
You (self-report)
Questions
62 health items, plus age and sex
Time
About 10–15 minutes

Fit-to-Frail Index Calculator, version 2.0. Printed .

https://gmrtoolkit.ca/tools/fit-to-frail/

GMR Toolkit, Geriatric Medicine Research (Dalhousie University and Nova Scotia Health). This result is not a diagnosis and does not replace clinical judgement.

Answer each question about yourself. If you are not sure, choose the answer that fits best. Your answers are not sent to us. They stay in this browser tab until you close it or choose New assessment.

About you

What is your current gender identity?

Optional. This is not used in the calculation.

What was your sex at birth?

Mobility

Do you have any difficulty reaching or extending your arms above your shoulders?
Do you have any difficulty stooping, crouching, or kneeling down?
Do you have any difficulty pushing or pulling large objects like a living room chair?
Do you have any difficulty lifting ten pounds (or 4.5 kg) from the floor, like a heavy bag of groceries?
Do you have any difficulty handling small objects, like picking up a coin from a table?
Do you have any difficulty standing for a long period, around 15 minutes?
Do you have any difficulty standing up after sitting in a chair?
Do you have any difficulty walking alone up and down a flight of stairs?
Do you have any difficulty walking 2 to 3 neighbourhood blocks?
Do you have any difficulty making a bed?
Do you have any difficulty washing your back?
Do you have any difficulty using a knife to cut food?
Do you have any difficulty with recreational or work activities in which you take some force or impact through your arm, shoulder, or hand (e.g., golf, hammering, tennis, typing, etc.)?

Basic activities of daily living

The following questions ask about some basic activities of daily living. Remember, these are activities that can be done without help, with some help, or which you are unable to do.

Can you dress and undress yourself without help (including picking out clothes and putting on socks & shoes)?
Can you take care of your own appearance without help, for example, combing your hair, shaving (if male)?
Can you walk without help?
Can you get in and out of bed without any help or aids?
Can you take a bath or shower without help?

Instrumental activities of daily living

The following questions ask about some other activities of daily living, activities that can be done without help, with some help or which you are unable to do. You may feel that some of these questions do not apply to you, but it is important that we ask the same questions of everyone.

Can you use the telephone without help, including looking up numbers and dialling?
Can you get to places out of walking distance without help (i.e., you drive your own car, or travel alone on buses, or taxis)?
Can you go shopping for groceries or clothes without help (taking care of all shopping needs yourself)?
Can you prepare your own meals without help (i.e., you plan and cook full meals yourself)?
Can you do your housework without help (i.e., you can clean floors, etc.)?
Can you take your own medicine without help (in the right doses at the right time)?
Can you handle your own money without help (i.e., you write cheques, pay bills, etc.)?

Other health questions

In general, would you say your health is...
Is your eyesight, using glasses or corrective lens if you use them...
Is your hearing, using a hearing aid if you use one...
Do you consider yourself...
In the last 12 months, have you had any injuries that were serious enough to limit some of your normal activities? For example, a broken bone, a bad cut or burn, a sprain or a poisoning.
In the past week, how often did you feel that everything you did was an effort?
In the past week, how often did you feel lonely?
In the past week, how often did you feel that you could not “get going”?
In the past year, have you seen a doctor for pneumonia?
In the past year, have you seen a doctor for urinary tract infection (UTI)?

Chronic conditions

The following questions ask about chronic health conditions. We are interested in "long-term conditions" which are expected to last, or have already lasted 6 months or more and that have been diagnosed by a health professional.

Has a doctor ever told you that you...

...have osteoarthritis in the knee?

...have osteoarthritis in the hip?

...have osteoarthritis in one or both hands?

...have rheumatoid arthritis?

...have any other type of arthritis?

...have/had any of the following: emphysema, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or chronic changes in lungs due to smoking?

...have high blood pressure or hypertension?

...have diabetes, borderline diabetes or that your blood sugar is high?

...have heart disease (including congestive heart failure or CHF)?

...have angina (or chest pain due to heart disease)?

...have had a heart attack or myocardial infarction?

...have peripheral vascular disease or poor circulation in your limbs?

...have experienced a stroke or CVA (cerebrovascular accident)?

...have experienced a mini-stroke or TIA (transient ischemic attack)?

...have a memory problem?

...have dementia or Alzheimer’s disease?

...had Parkinsonism or Parkinson’s disease?

...have intestinal or stomach ulcers?

...have a bowel disorder such as Crohn’s Disease, ulcerative colitis, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

...experience bowel incontinence?

...experience urinary incontinence?

...have cataracts?

...have glaucoma?

...have macular degeneration?

...had cancer?

...have osteoporosis, sometimes called low bone mineral density, or thin, brittle or weak bones?

...have back problems, excluding fibromyalgia and arthritis?

...have an UNDER-active thyroid gland (sometimes called hypothyroidism or myxedema)?

...have an OVER-active thyroid gland (sometimes called hyperthyroidism or Graves’ disease)?

...have kidney disease or kidney failure?

Review your answers

    Open a saved result

    About this tool

    A frailty index measures how many health problems (“deficits”) a person has, out of a fixed list. The more deficits, the higher the index and the higher the risk of poor health outcomes. This calculator uses 62 items adapted from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, covering mobility, daily activities, general health, mood and chronic conditions.

    How it is scored

    Each item scores between 0 (no problem) and 1 (a full deficit). Some items score part of a deficit, for example 0.5 for needing some help with an activity. Your frailty index is the total of your item scores divided by the number of items you answered, so it ranges from 0 to 1. At least 50 of the 62 items must be answered to calculate a score.

    Your index is then compared with people of the same age and sex. The percentile shows the percentage of people your age and sex who have a higher frailty index than you. A higher percentile is better.

    Category (compared with people your age and sex) Percentile
    Excellent 80–99
    Good 60–79
    Average 40–59
    Fair 20–39
    Poor 1–19

    The comparison data cover ages 45 to 85. If you are younger than 45 or older than 85, your result is compared with the nearest available age.

    Comparison data

    Your percentile compares your frailty index with Canadians of the same age and sex in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), using the norms method of Pérez-Zepeda et al. 2021 (see References).

    This research was made possible using the data/biospecimens collected by the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). Funding for the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) is provided by the Government of Canada through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) under grant reference: LSA 94473 and the Canada Foundation for Innovation, as well as the following provinces, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia. The CLSA is led by Drs. Parminder Raina, Christina Wolfson and Susan Kirkland. The authors gratefully acknowledge the time and commitment of the CLSA participants, without whom this research would not be possible.

    The opinions expressed in this manuscript are the author’s own and do not reflect the views of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

    Privacy

    Your answers stay in this browser tab until you close it or choose New assessment. Nothing is sent to a server.

    Disclaimer

    This calculator is for information only. It is not a diagnosis and is not medical advice. Please talk to your health care provider about your health.

    More about the frailty index (Geriatric Medicine Research website)

    References

    This reference list is under review.

    1. Searle SD, Mitnitski A, Gahbauer EA, Gill TM, Rockwood K. A standard procedure for creating a frailty index. BMC Geriatr. 2008;8:24. doi:10.1186/1471-2318-8-24
    2. Kanters DM, Griffith LE, Hogan DB, Richardson J, Patterson C, Raina P. Assessing the measurement properties of a Frailty Index across the age spectrum in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2017;71(8):794–799. doi:10.1136/jech-2016-208853
    3. Pérez-Zepeda MU, Godin J, Armstrong JJ, Andrew MK, Mitnitski A, Kirkland S, Rockwood K, Theou O. Frailty among middle-aged and older Canadians: population norms for the frailty index using the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. Age Ageing. 2021;50(2):447–456. doi:10.1093/ageing/afaa144

    How to cite

    Please cite the papers behind this tool:

    and the tool:

    GMR Toolkit. Fit-to-Frail Index Calculator, scoring version 2.0. Geriatric Medicine Research, Dalhousie University. https://gmrtoolkit.ca/tools/fit-to-frail/. Accessed [date accessed].

    Or, for a reference manager, in BibTeX:

    @misc{gmrtoolkit-fit-to-frail,
  author = {{Geriatric Medicine Research}},
  title = {{Fit-to-Frail Index Calculator}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://gmrtoolkit.ca/tools/fit-to-frail/}},
  note = {GMR Toolkit, scoring version 2.0. Accessed [date accessed]}
}

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