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. 2025 Jan 27;17(1):e78097.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.78097. eCollection 2025 Jan.

Calculation of the Frailty Index and Precautions for Elderly Patients Undergoing Gastrointestinal Cancer Surgery

Enes Sahin  1 , Kazim Sahin  2 , Mehmet Esref Ulutas  3 , Yakup Turan  1 , Sertac Ata Güler  1 , Turgay Simsek  1 , Nuh Zafer Cantürk  1
Affiliations

Calculation of the Frailty Index and Precautions for Elderly Patients Undergoing Gastrointestinal Cancer Surgery

Enes Sahin et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Introduction It is estimated that the world population is getting older. Accordingly, the incidence of GI tract malignancies is increasing in patients over 65 years of age. This study aims to investigate the impact of frailty on the postoperative course of elderly patients with gastrointestinal malignancies (GIM). Methodology This study recruited 120 elderly patients who had been operated on for GIM. Variables such as age, readmission rate, duration of hospitalization, and frailty index (FI) criteria (fatigue, endurance, walking/running speed, comorbidities, and weight loss) were determined, and the FI was calculated. The relationship between the FI and postoperative complications in the study participants was then evaluated. Results The study involved 120 patients with gastric, colon, and rectal cancers. The mean age of the participants was 72.79 ± 5.4 years, of which 56.6% (68) were male and 43.3% (52) were female. The average hospitalization duration was 6.7 days, and the average ICU stay duration was 2.2 days. There was a correlation between the age of the patients and their FI scores (FIS). Conclusion It was determined that the FIS increases in parallel with increasing age among the elderly. Furthermore, the presence of preoperative comorbidities with old age increases postoperative mortality and morbidity.

Keywords: cancer colon; co morbidity; frail elderly; frailty index; gastrointestinal neoplasms.

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Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent for treatment and open access publication was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Non-invasive Clinical Research Ethics Committee Kocaeli University Faculty of Medicine issued approval GOKAEK-2023/16.13. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Flow diagram.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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