Using the Short Physical Performance Battery for Frailty Screenings Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: An ROC Analysis
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design
2.2. Frailty Assessment
2.3. Short Physical Performance Battery
2.4. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Participants
3.2. Frailty Process Classification
3.3. Frailty Classification
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
| SPPB | Short Physical Performance Battery |
| FRAIL | Fatigue, resistance, ambulation, illness, loss of weight |
| ROC | Receiver operator curve |
| AUC | Area under the curve |
| PPV | Positive predictive value |
| NPV | Negative predictive value |
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| All (N = 371) | Women (n = 325) | Men (n = 46) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 74.1 ± 8.04 | 74.1 ± 8.15 | 74.2 ± 7.31 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 30.1 ± 6.37 | 30.3 ± 6.21 | 28.8 ± 7.32 |
| Body Mass (kg) | 77.2 ± 18.1 | 76.3 ± 17.5 | 83.0 ± 21.5 |
| Race/Ethnicity | AA: 177 (47.7%) | AA: 163 (50.0%) | AA: 14 (30.4%) |
| A: 24 (6.5%) | A: 18 (5.5%) | A: 6 (13.0%) | |
| H: 93 (25.1%) | H: 84 (25.9%) | H: 9 (19.6%) | |
| NHW: 74 (19.9%) | NHW: 57 (17.6%) | NHW: 17 (37.0%) | |
| WI: 3 (0.8%) | WI: 3 (1.0%) | WI: 0 (0.0%) |
| Cutoff Score: ≤10 | FRAIL Frailty Process | FRAIL Non-Frail Process | Total |
| SPPB—Frail Process | 177 | 99 | 276 |
| SPPB—Non-Frail Process | 42 | 53 | 95 |
| Total | 219 | 152 | 371 |
| Cutoff Score: ≤8 | FRAIL Frailty Process | FRAIL Non-Frail Process | Total |
| SPPB—Frail Process | 121 | 34 | 155 |
| SPPB—Non-Frail Process | 98 | 118 | 216 |
| Total | 219 | 152 | 371 |
| Cutoff Score: ≤8 | FRAIL Frail | FRAIL Non-Frail | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPPB—Frail | 33 | 122 | 155 |
| SPPB—Non-Frail | 9 | 207 | 216 |
| Total | 42 | 329 | 371 |
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© 2026 by the authors. Published by MDPI on behalf of the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics (SIGG). Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.
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Ali, E.; Lafontant, K.; Suarez, J.R.M.; Leinbach, C.S.; Fukuda, D.H.; Stout, J.R.; Garcia-Retortillo, S.; Lopez, J.; Xie, R.; Thiamwong, L. Using the Short Physical Performance Battery for Frailty Screenings Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: An ROC Analysis. J. Gerontol. Geriatr. 2026, 74, 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/jgg74020010
Ali E, Lafontant K, Suarez JRM, Leinbach CS, Fukuda DH, Stout JR, Garcia-Retortillo S, Lopez J, Xie R, Thiamwong L. Using the Short Physical Performance Battery for Frailty Screenings Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: An ROC Analysis. Journal of Gerontology and Geriatrics. 2026; 74(2):10. https://doi.org/10.3390/jgg74020010
Chicago/Turabian StyleAli, Eman, Kworweinski Lafontant, Jethro Raphael M. Suarez, Carla Stokes Leinbach, David H. Fukuda, Jeffrey R. Stout, Sergi Garcia-Retortillo, Janet Lopez, Rui Xie, and Ladda Thiamwong. 2026. "Using the Short Physical Performance Battery for Frailty Screenings Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: An ROC Analysis" Journal of Gerontology and Geriatrics 74, no. 2: 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/jgg74020010
APA StyleAli, E., Lafontant, K., Suarez, J. R. M., Leinbach, C. S., Fukuda, D. H., Stout, J. R., Garcia-Retortillo, S., Lopez, J., Xie, R., & Thiamwong, L. (2026). Using the Short Physical Performance Battery for Frailty Screenings Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: An ROC Analysis. Journal of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 74(2), 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/jgg74020010

