EXAMINING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DOMAINS OF FRAILTY AND 6-MONTH CHANGES IN HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE, LIVING STATUS, AND TREATMENT DECISIONAL REGRET AMONG OLDER PATIENTS REFERRED FOR CARDIAC SURGERY
Abstract
Background: Frailty status, which takes function into account, may be a better measure for older patients’ health status. Frailty is a risk factor for various adverse outcomes after cardiac surgery.
Objectives: The goal of this research was to determine the impact of varying degrees of frailty on the functional recovery of patients who undergo cardiac surgery.
Methods: A prospective cohort pre-post design was used to evaluate the exposure (frailty) and resulting outcomes (change in HRQoL; dependent living status; treatment decisional regret).
Results: Worse ADL function was positively associated with higher impairment in mobility and usual function HRQoL at 6 months. Those with worse ADL function had higher odds of experiencing a dependent living status and worse ADL and cognition had higher odds of regretting their surgical decision.
Discussion: The current study showed domain-specific frailty is negatively associated with an individual’s capacity to return to optimal HRQoL post-operatively.