Validation of a modified version of the Gijon's social-familial evaluation scale (SFES): The "Barcelona SFES version", for patients with cognitive impairment

The aim was to validate an abbreviated version of the Gijon's social-familial evaluation scale (SFES) (Barcelona-SFES version), on patients with cognitive impairment. A group of 34 patients with cognitive impairment, admitted to an intermediate-long-term-care facility, were analyzed. Mean age was 80.2 ± 7.4 years. Gijón's SFES was abbreviated and only the first three item groups corresponding to family conditions, social contacts and assistance from the social network were selected. Barcelona-SFES version had a range score between 3 to 15 points, in which low scores identify older patients who live with their family, have good contacts, and participate in community activities. In contrast, high scores identify older persons who live alone and have poor social support and little participation with community activities. Three social risk categories were established according to the Barcelona-SFES score: low social risk (≥ 7 points), intermediate social risk (8-9 points) and high social risk (≥ 10 points). Validation criteria used in the present study were: predictive value of Barcelona-SFES score of post-discharge destination (home or institution), and patient's (or family's) request for a definitive institutionalization in a nursing home. There were 9 patients with low social risk (26.4%), 8 with intermediate social risk (23.5%) and 17 with high social risk (50%). A significant relationship between Barcelona-SFES scores and post-discharge destination was found. Eighty percent of patients discharged to an institution (nursing and residential homes), they had high social risk SFES scores (≥ 10) Also, a significant correlation was found between the number of patients for which a definitive institutionalization request was performed and the Barcelona-SFES scores. Fifteen (88.2%) of the 18 patients for whom the request was done, were in the high social risk group. The lowest scores from SFES were predictive of home discharge, while the highest scores were predictive of a definitive institutionalization.