Prevalence of frailty and its association with mortality in general surgery

We assessed the prevalence of frailty in an older acute general surgical population and its correlation with length of hospital stay, readmission to hospital, and 30- and 90-day mortality.

In 3 acute surgical admission units, we assessed consecutive participants aged over 65 years with general surgical conditions. We measured the prevalence of frailty using a 7-point frailty score. We measured length of hospital stay, readmission to hospital, and mortality at both 30 and 90 days.

We studied 325 participants with an average age of 77.3 years 8.2 (standard deviation), 185 (57%) women. There were 88 (28%) participants who were classified as being mildly, moderately, or severely frail. The frail group spent longer in hospital (7.6 days, 95% confidence interval [CI] 6.1 to 9.2 vs 11.1, 95% CI 7.2 to 15.0; P = .03). They also were more likely to die at both 30 and 90 days (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 4.0, 95% CI 1.1 to 15.2, P = .04; OR 3.0, 95% CI 1.3 to 7.4, P = .02). Readmission to hospital did not differ (OR 1.1, 95% CI .5 to 2.3).

Over 1 in 4 people were frail. These individuals spent longer in hospital and were more likely to die.