Study finds 13% mortality rate among community-living older US adults after major surgery
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Study results found a 1-year mortality rate of 13.4% after major surgery among community-living older adults in the United States, with the highest mortality rates seen in those who were frail and had probable dementia.
In a prospective, longitudinal cohort study, Thomas M. Gill, MD, and colleagues from Yale School of Medicine used data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study to analyze mortality rates in 992 community-living fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries (mean age of 79.2 years) from 2011 to 2017. All participants underwent major surgery – as defined by data from the CMS – and had a minimum 1 year of follow-up.
At 1 year, researchers found a 13.4% overall mortality rate (n = 206). Mortality rates were higher for nonelective surgeries (22.3%) compared with elective surgeries (7.4%). Gill and colleagues noted mortality rates were higher in adults who were frail (27.8%) vs. those who were not frail (6%) and adults with probable dementia (32.7%) vs. those without dementia (11.6%). Additionally, researchers noted the reduction in restricted mean survival time was 48.8 days for adults who were frail and 44.9 days for adults with probable dementia.
“We found that nearly one of every seven community-living older U.S. adults died in the year after major surgery, including more than one of four who were frail and nearly one of three who had probable dementia,” the researchers wrote in the study. “Our findings suggest substantial differences in 1-year mortality after major surgery across distinct subgroups of older persons and highlight the potential prognostic value of geriatric conditions, such as frailty and dementia,” they concluded.
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