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Clinical Frailty Scale

The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) is a 9-point scale describing a patient's baseline function, from very fit to terminally ill. In MedJot it lives in the Social History section.

Using it​

Open the tool from Social History. Each of the nine levels is shown with its full descriptor rather than just a number, because the descriptor is what you are actually matching the patient against.

Select the level that fits the patient's baseline — how they were before this episode, not how they are now. This is the most common error with the CFS, and the reason MedJot shows the descriptors rather than asking you to remember what 6 means.

What it produces​

  • A baseline frailty line in the report, carrying the level and its descriptor.
  • Context for the AI tools — a differential list for an 88-year-old at CFS 7 is a different list from the same presentation at CFS 2, and the tools are given the score so they can reflect that.

Scope​

The CFS applies to adults, and conventionally to those over 65 or with recognised frailty. It is not validated for younger patients with stable single-system disability, and it is a description of baseline function rather than an acuity or a triage score.