The Association of Frailty with Outcomes after Cancer Surgery: A Systematic Review and Metaanalysis

Abstract

Background: Cancer is common in older adults, who often have concurrent frailty. Frailty is a strong predictor of adverse outcomes in surgical patients. Our objective is to systematically review the association of frailty with postoperative mortality and other adverse outcomes in adult patients who have undergone nonemergency cancer surgery.

Methods: After registration (CRD42020171163), we systematically reviewed PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL databases to identify all studies reporting an association between a preoperative frailty measurement and a relevant outcome (primary: all-cause mortality in-hospital or within 30 days of surgery; secondary outcomes: postoperative complications, length of stay, discharge disposition, mortality between 30 days and 1 year, postoperative function, and delirium). All stages of the review were completed in duplicate. Risk of bias was assessed using the Quality in Prognostic Studies (QUIPS) tool. Metaanalysis was used to pool effect estimates using random-effects models.

Results: A total of 2877 studies were identified, and 71 were included. Frailty was significantly associated with mortality within 30 days (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 3.02, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.77-5.15), adverse discharge disposition (adjusted OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.52-3.02), postoperative complications (adjusted OR 2.39, 95% CI 1.64-3.49), longer-term mortality (unadjusted OR 4.32, 95% CI 2.15-8.67), and length of stay (mean difference 2.30, 95% CI 1.10-3.50). The number of studies presenting adequately adjusted estimates was small. Findings may be limited due to publication bias.

Conclusions: In adults having elective cancer surgery, frailty is strongly associated with adverse health outcomes. Preoperative frailty assessment should be considered in prognostication.