Frailty is an independent risk factor of one-year mortality after elective orthopedic surgery: a prospective cohort study

Frailty is associated with perioperative adverse outcomes, especially for the elderly. This study aimed to assess whether frailty was an independent risk factor of one-year mortality in frail patients after elective orthopedic surgery. In this prospective study, three hundred and thirteen patients aged >= 65 years, undergoing elective orthopedic surgery were finally included. Frailty assessed by the Clinical Frailty Score (CFS) before the surgery was present in 29.7% (93/313). Among them, 7.7% of patients (24/313) died at one year after surgery. In multivariate logistic analysis, higher CFS (OR = 2.271, 95% CI=1.472-3.504) was found to be an independent risk factor of one-year mortality after surgery in elderly orthopedic patients. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the model was 0.897 (95% CI 0.834-0.959). In addition, we found higher Charlson comorbidity index (OR=1.498, 95% CI = 1.082-2.073) was also a significant risk factor. In conclusion, frailty is associated with increased one-year mortality in elderly patients after elective orthopedic surgery, which should be considered as a routine assessment tool in preoperative practice.

Automated summary

Frailty is identified as an independent risk factor for one-year mortality in elderly patients undergoing elective orthopedic surgery, and should be routinely assessed in preoperative practice.