Leader: Rosa Liperoti (UNICATT); Other collaborator(s): Riccardo Calvani (UNICATT)
Activities will focus on the validation of multidimensional assessment tools developed in Task 4.5.
Validation process will be conducted on suitable longitudinal cohorts selected in Task 1.1 and will take advantage of the new data collection implemented in task 1.3.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results: Explorative, sensitivity and pilot analyses have been conducted in order to verify the appropriateness of specific sources of data (e.g. SPRINTT, Lookup 7+, LIFE, IlSirente) to serve as cohorts for external validation of developed models. In collaboration with WP1, task 1.3, the AROMA study, a new longitudinal observational study has been launched. It aims at investigating the effect of technology assisted rehabilitation compared with traditional rehabilitation techniques in a population of older patients with multimorbidity and recent motor disability. The AROMA study received ethical approval on December 2023 by the UCSC ethical committee.
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications: External validation of findings is expected to increase applicability of developed multidimensional tools to clinical practice and geographic cross-region generalizability.
Internal meetings were held between the researchers of WP4 and the WP leaders of Spoke 3. The following models, at different stage of development, have been considered for external validation:1) identification of predictors of incident motor disability (developed in SPRINTT dataset); identification of predictors of health adverse events in frail older adults, under development in the SPRINTT dataset); role of multimorbidity as predictors of health adverse events in frail older adults (planned).
External validation of the analysis on predictors of incident disability has been planned. The model has been developed from the SPRINTT-cohort. The LIFE cohort has been identified as the most suitable for validating this analysis. A request for access to the dataset has been planned, along with the subsequent preparation of analytical files. Further activities within this task will follow the development of the additional planned predictive models.
The validation activities and the selection of external cohorts are progressing in parallel with the development of risk algorithms. The validation strategy of the algorithms developed by WP4 involves testing the algorithms in independent cohorts, such as those of the Lifestyle Intervention and Independence for Elders (LIFE) and Invecchiare in Chianti (Inchianti) studies, and those of the Centre for Healthy Longevity and Aging Sciences (Taipei, Taiwan), in order to have a better representation of the validity of the algorithms in different ethnicities. Contacts have been already been made with the investigators of the various studies and specific requests have been submitted to initiate collaboration procedures for the validation studies.
coming soon