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Not yet recruitingNCT06968702ICOPE-BRUpdated May 13, 2025

Project ICOPE Brazil: Assessment of Intrinsic Capacity in Brazilian Older Adults

An observational study in Intrinsic Capacity, Frailty and Aging, sponsored by University of Sao Paulo. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 60 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-05-13.

Sponsored by University of Sao Paulo · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
3,838
Ages
60 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The ICOPE Brazil study aims to understand aging trajectories in Brazil, especially healthy aging trends based on intrinsic capacity, a collective of mental and physical capacities one may have to maintain their functional ability to execute daily life activities. Tests and questionnaires will be applied to collect data on mobility capacity, cognitive capacity, nutritional status, vision, and hearing (sensorial) capacities, and mental health. These assessments are in consonance with what the World Health Organization proposed in the Integrated Care for Older People Program (ICOPE). Participants will be followed up for three years, and the primary outcomes of interest are loss of intrinsic capacity, mobility impairment, cognitive impairment, incident depressive symptoms, loss of functional ability, incident frailty, incident sarcopenia, incident falls, hospitalization, multimorbidity, and mortality.

Read the detailed description

The ICOPE Brazil study is a prospective, longitudinal cohort study designed to investigate the trajectories of aging among older adults in Brazil, with a particular emphasis on healthy aging as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). The central conceptual framework guiding this study is "intrinsic capacity," a multidimensional construct encompassing an individual's physical and mental capacities that contribute to the maintenance of functional ability in later life.

Data collection will involve the administration of standardized tests and structured questionnaires to assess five core domains of intrinsic capacity: mobility, cognitive function, nutritional status, sensory capacities (vision and hearing), and psychological well-being. These domains reflect the recommendations outlined in the WHO's Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) program, which aims to promote healthy aging and support the functional ability of older populations globally.

Participants will be followed for a total duration of three years, with periodic assessments to monitor changes over time. The primary outcomes of interest include: decline in intrinsic capacity, mobility impairment, cognitive impairment, onset of depressive symptoms, loss of functional ability, incident frailty, incident sarcopenia, incidence of falls, hospitalizations, multimorbidity, and all-cause mortality. Data generated from this study will inform public health strategies, clinical guidelines, and policy development for aging populations in Brazil and other similar settings.

02

Conditions studied

  • Intrinsic Capacity
  • Frailty
  • Aging
  • Healthy Aging
  • Functional Ability
  • Mobility and Independence
  • Cognitive Ability, General
  • Cognitive Impairment
  • Sensory Hearing Loss
  • Sensory Deficits
  • Visual Acuity
  • Visual Impairment
  • Mood Disorders
  • Depressive Symptoms
  • Vitality
  • Nutritional Risk
  • Nutrition Assessment

Keywords

  • Instrinsic Capacity
  • Functional Ability
  • ICOPE
  • Aging trends
  • Older Adults
  • Frailty
  • Cognitive Impairment
  • Mobility
  • Sensory
  • Vitality
  • Psychological
  • Cohort
  • healthy aging
  • public health
03

In context

Frailty

1,284 studies on the registry are indexed under Frailty; 452 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 3,838 is above the median of 225 across 493 observational studies indexed under Frailty.

Browse Frailty studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Sao Paulo is the lead sponsor of 1,035 studies on the registry; 95 are open to participants now.

Of its 8 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 0 (0%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
60 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Community-dwelling people aged ≥ 60 years who are users of the public health system, and registered in the participating primary health care units domiciled in their respective coverage area.

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • People aged ≥ 60 years, with no age limit;
  • Being registered (with available contact information) in the participating health care units;
  • Being available to go in person to the data collection sites for the assessments.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria

  • Inability to access the data collection site;
  • Severe neurologic and/or cognitive impairments that preclude interaction with the evaluators to complete the proposed tests and data collections;
  • Advanced serious illness or under palliative care:

Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS)20 score of 8 (severely frail) or 9 (terminally ill).

05

Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
3,838 participants (estimated)
Patient registry
No
Biospecimen retention
Samples with dna

Groups and cohorts

  • Community-dwelling older adults

    Population Community-dwelling people aged ≥ 60 years registered in the participating primary health care units, and domiciled in their respective coverage area. Participants do not have to be active patients to be invited. We will create a random order from the lists of users registered in each health care unit involved in the project to invite participants. This approach ensures a systematic random sampling strategy to avoid participants' enrollment by convenience and its related selection bias. Participants will be invited via telephone or home visits, following the order established by the randomization list, until we reach the minimum expected number of participants for each center. For centers that need to enroll participants from two or more health care units to achieve the minimum expected sample size of 202 participants, it is necessary to consolidate the user lists from these units into a single list before randomization.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Loss of Intrinsic Capacity

    Changes from baseline in Intrinsic Capacity domains over time. Mobility: delta of the Short Physical Performance Battery and its criterion. Cognition: delta of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Score Vision: changes in visual acuity category assessed by the Snellen visual chart Hearing: changes in the Hearing Handicap Inventory For The Elderly category Nutrition/Vitality: changes in the Mini-nutritional risk category and the delta of its scores. Depressive Symptoms: changes in the Geriatric Depression Scale results.

    Time frame: Participants will be reassessed by a telehealth visit at 6, 18, 30 months using the ICOPE basic assessment strategy. In-person visits at 12, 24 and 36 months of follow up.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Major Geriatric Outcomes

    Major Geriatric Outcomes are: Loss of Functional Ability Incident Falls Incident Fractures Urinary Incontinence Incident Frailty Incident Sarcopenia Incident Dementia Moving to a long-term care or Nursing Home facility Hospitalization ED visits Death

    Time frame: Telehealth monitoring at 6, 18, 30 months of follow up. In-person visits at 12, 24, 36 months of follow up

07

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

08

References and documents

Publications

  • Assessment of intrinsic capacity in the Brazilian older population and the psychometric properties of the WHO/ ICOPE screening tool: a multicenter cohort study protocol. Geriatr Gerontol Aging. 2024; https://doi.org/10.53886/gga.e0000166_EN

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Start is estimated for May 2025; primary completion for Nov 2028, 42 months later.

Of 289 non-industry observational studies under Frailty, half reached primary completion within 29 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 12 and three quarters within 55. This study's planned 42 months is above that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 292 studies reached it within 29 months; a quarter within 12 and three quarters within 55.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
May 5, 2025
First posted
May 13, 2025
StartEst.
May 15, 2025
Primary completionEst.
Nov 2028
CompletionEst.
Nov 2029
Last update
May 13, 2025
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 13, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06968702
Responsible party
Eduardo Ferriolli (Full Professor, University of Sao Paulo) — Principal investigator
First posted
May 13, 2025
Start date
May 15, 2025 (estimated)
Primary completion
Nov 2028 (estimated)
Completion
Nov 2029 (estimated)
Last update
May 13, 2025

Study contacts

Eduardo Ferriolli, MD. MSc. PhD
Contact
eferriol@fmrp.usp.br
5511 30616483
Renato Bandeira de Mello, MD. MPH. PhD.
Contact
rgmello@hcpa.edu.br
555133598572
Eduardo Ferriolli, MD, MSc, PhD
study chair · University of Sao Paulo
Renato Bandeira de Mello, MD, MPH, PhD
study director · Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in May 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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