Difference among frailty assessment tools in predicating postoperative prognosis of elderly patients with mild

Chunhua Ni1, Chen Gu1, Hua Liu2

  • 1Intensive Care Unit, Kunshan Hospital Affiliated to Jiangsu University, Qianjin East Road, China.

PubMed
Abstract

Insights

The Frailty Phenotype (FP) and FRAIL Scale (FS) can predict poor outcomes in elderly patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Other frailty tools showed limited predictive value for mTBI prognosis.

Area of Science:

  • Geriatrics
  • Neurology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) is a significant health concern in the elderly population.
  • Assessing frailty is crucial for predicting prognosis in elderly mTBI patients.
  • Various frailty assessment tools exist, but their predictive utility for mTBI outcomes requires clarification.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the predictive value of five different frailty assessment tools for the prognosis of elderly patients who have sustained an mTBI.
  • To determine which frailty assessment tools are most effective in identifying elderly mTBI patients at risk of unfavorable outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • A retrospective analysis was conducted on elderly mTBI patients.
  • Frailty was assessed upon admission using five tools: Frailty Phenotype (FP), FRAIL Scale (FS), Edmonton Frailty Scale (EFS), Groningen Frailty Indicator (GFI), and Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS).
  • Prognosis was evaluated using the extended Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOSE), and predictive potential was analyzed via multivariate logistic regression and ROC curves.

Main Results:

  • The incidence of frailty varied significantly across the assessment tools.
  • Only the Frailty Phenotype (FP) and FRAIL Scale (FS) demonstrated statistically significant predictive value for unfavorable prognosis (p=0.014 and p=0.004, respectively).
  • ROC analysis indicated moderate predictive power for FP (AUC=73.2%) and FS (AUC=76.2%), while CFS, EFS, and GFI showed low to no predictive power (AUCs ranging from 46.1% to 55.6%).

Conclusions:

  • The Frailty Phenotype (FP) and FRAIL Scale (FS) are valuable tools for predicting unfavorable prognosis in elderly patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).
  • Other commonly used frailty assessment tools (CFS, EFS, GFI) demonstrated limited utility in predicting mTBI outcomes in this population.