The association of frailty status with nutritional risk and the effect on outcomes in elderly surgical inpatients / 中华临床营养杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To study the association of frailty status with nutritional risk and the effect on clinical outcomes among elderly surgical inpatients.Methods:Elderly inpatients from the surgery department of Beijing Hospital were enrolled from January to June 2021. Frail scale and nutritional risk screening 2002 (NRS 2002) were used for frailty evaluation and nutrition risk screening. The influence of frailty and associated nutrition risk in elderly surgical inpatients was analyzed.Results:487 elderly surgical patients were included, of whom 131 cases were in the non-frailty group, 279 cases were in the pre-frailty group and 77 cases were in the frailty group, according to the Frail scale score. 146 cases were at nutritional risk, of whom 8 (6.1% of 131) were in the non-frailty group, 87 (31.2% of 279) in the pre-frailty group and 51 (66.2% of 77) were in the frailty group. According to univariate/multivariate logistic regression analysis of frailty in elderly surgical patients, a higher NRS 2002 score, older age, and the presence of multiple concurrent diseases (≥ 5) were significantly associated with frailty ( P < 0.001). The Frail scale score was positively correlated with NRS 2002 score ( r = 0.448, P < 0.01). Multiple comparisons showed that frailty had statistically significant effects on hospital stay and medical costs in elderly surgical patients ( P < 0.05). Conclusions:The prevalence of frailty is higher in elderly surgical patients, and the prevalence of nutritional risk increases with the progression of frailty. Frailty can lead to prolonged hospital stays and increased hospital costs in elderly surgical patients.