A scoping review found that hospital-at-home studies rarely assess frailty consistently, limiting confidence in how frailty prevalence and severity are estimated in these programs. The review evaluated Hospital-at-Home research through July 9, 2025 and an updated search on December 31, 2025. Across 12 included papers comprising 10 unique studies and 637 patients, investigators found high heterogeneity in frailty instruments and incomplete or variable reporting. Six different frailty tools were used across studies, producing widely variable estimates of frailty prevalence and severity. The review matters because hospital-at-home services are frequently promoted for older adults, including those described as frail, and policy or reimbursement decisions may depend on understanding who benefits and how vulnerable these patients truly are. By mapping the measurement inconsistencies, the authors effectively define a roadmap for standardization—one of the main barriers to comparing outcomes and building an evidence base robust enough for clinical and payer decisions.
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