The sensitivity and specificity of the WHO's ICOPE screening tool, and the prevalence of loss of intrinsic capacity in older adults: A scoping review

Background The World Health Organization has developed the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) program, a public health strategy to maintain older adults' functional abilities and promote healthier aging. The approach comprises a 5-step pathway. Step 1 is the screening for impairment in functions, and Step 2 is an in-depth evaluation to confirm the presence and severity of functional impairment. These initial two steps are crucial to determine the subsequent plan of care (Step 3) and follow-up (Step 4). The fifth step encompasses actions to support families and caregivers and to engage communities. This review gathers data from the literature on the prevalence of positive screenings regarding intrinsic capacity detected by the program's first-step screening tool, and on currently available results regarding the instrument's sensitivity and specificity. Methods and findings Electronic searches were conducted in the PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, and SciElo databases, the medRxiv platform, and recent human aging scientific events, looking for research analyzing the ICOPE screening instrument. Studies reporting data on the prevalence of positive screenings for loss of intrinsic capacity using the proposed screening tool and/or findings on the instrument's sensitivity and specificity were included. A total of 7 publications with participants aged 50 years or more were selected. The prevalence of at least one impairment in intrinsic capacity detected by the instrument varied among the studies from 17.1 % to 94.3 %. Sensitivity ranged from 26.4 % to 100 % and specificity from 22 % to 96 %, depending on the setting and the assessed domain. Conclusion Currently available data are heterogeneous, and different results were found among the studies due to diverse settings and methodologies. The evidence on the ICOPE screening tool's performance in different populations is still scarce and reinforces the need for further research worldwide.