Patient-Centered Anesthesia Triage System Predicts ASA Physical Status

Pre-operative triAge proCedure to streaMline elective surgicAl patieNts (PACMAN) improves efficiency by selecting patients eligible for phone consultation: A retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

Pre-operative screening is a high volume task consuming time and resource. Streamlining patient flow by gathering information in advance reduces costs, optimises resources and diminishes patient burden whilst maintaining safety of care.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate whether 'Pre-operative triAge proCedure to streaMline elective surgicAl patieNts' (PACMAN) is able to improve pre-operative screening by selecting patients eligible for evaluation by telephone.

DESIGN

A single-centre, retrospective, observational cohort analysis.

SETTING

A tertiary medical teaching hospital in 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Adults scheduled for clinical interventions under procedural sedation and all types of elective medium or low risk surgery with anaesthetic guidance were eligible. Patients answered a questionnaire to calculate the PACMAN score. This score combined with risk factors related to surgery determines suitability for phone consultation (PhC) or the need for an in-person consultation (in-PC).

INTERVENTION

Evaluation of standard care.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Primary outcome was the reduction in number of in-PCs. Secondary outcomes included reliability of PACMAN, peri-operative patient outcomes and cost-effectiveness.

RESULTS

Of 965 patients triaged by PACMAN, 705 (73.1%) were identified as suitable for a PhC. Of those, 688 (97.6%) were classified American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status (ASA-PS) I to II or III with stable comorbidities. Of the 260 in-PC patients, 47.4% were classified ASA-PS III with unstable comorbidities or ASA-PS IV. The overall incidence of unanticipated adverse peri-operative events was 1.3%. Finally, implementation of PACMAN led to a 20% increase in pre-operative department efficiency due to better deployment of personnel and resources.

CONCLUSION

Implementation of PACMAN resulted in a 73.1% reduction in pre-operative in-PCs at our hospital. Given the increasing pressure on healthcare systems globally, we suggest developing further optimisation and integration of smart triage solutions into the pre-operative process.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT06148701.

Teleconsultation compared with face-to-face consultation in the context of pre-anesthesia evaluation: TELANESTH, a randomized controlled single-blind non-inferiority study

STUDY OBJECTIVE

During the COVID crisis, pre-anesthesia teleconsultations were widely used leading to savings in time and money. However, the non-inferiority of this system has not yet been evaluated.

DESIGN

Prospective, randomized, controlled, single-blind non-inferiority study.

SETTING

University hospital.

PATIENTS

Patients scheduled for surgery requiring a single pre-anesthesia consultation (PAC).

INTERVENTION

Pre-anesthesia teleconsultation (PATC) from patient's home.

MEASUREMENTS

Primary outcome: concordance between the pre-anesthesia visit (PAV), performed on the day of surgery, and PAC or PATC on: Secondary outcomes: cancellation rate, immediate perioperative complications, patient satisfaction, organization, and economic and ecological costs.

MAIN RESULTS

Out of 172 patients included, 149 were analyzed. PATC was no less effective than PAC in terms of the primary outcome or each of its components: the difference between groups was: - 0.044[90% CI: -0.135; 0.047] (p = 0.0002). There was no difference in cancellation rates (PAC 1.99% vs. PATC 1.27%, p = 0.6) or in immediate perioperative complications (none). Satisfaction was 9.48 (±1.45) in the PAC group and 8.96 (±1.68) in the PATC group (p = 0.0006). In the PATC group, the mean savings per patient were 30 km (± 29), 36 min (± 27), and 18 (± 18) euros, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

According to our criteria, PATC was not inferior to PAC for preoperative patient evaluation and may be an interesting economical, ecological alternative.

Physiologic risk stratification is important to long-term mortality, complications, and readmission in thoracic endovascular aortic repair

Use of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status classification is important for periprocedural risk stratification. However, the collective effect after adjustment for the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) medical comorbidity grading system on long-term all-cause mortality, complications, and discharge disposition is unknown. We examined these associations in patients after thoracic endograft placement. Data from three thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) trials through 5 years of follow-up were included. Patients with acute complicated type B dissection (n = 50), traumatic transection (n = 101), or descending thoracic aneurysm (n = 66) were analyzed. The patients were stratified into three groups according to the ASA class: I-II, III, and IV. Multivariable proportional hazards regression models were used to examine the effect of ASA class on 5-year mortality, complications, and rehospitalizations after adjustment for SVS risk score and potential confounders. The largest proportion of patients treated by TEVAR across the ASA groups (n = 217) was ASA IV (n = 97; 44.7%; P < .001), followed by ASA III (n = 83; 38.2%) and ASA I-II (n = 37; 17.1%). Among the ASA groups, the ASA I-II patients were, on average, 6 years younger than those with ASA III and 3 years older than those with ASA IV (ASA I-II: age, 54.3 ± 22.0 years; ASA III: age, 60.0 ± 19.7 years; ASA IV: age, 51.0 ± 18.4 years; P = .009). Multivariable adjusted 5-year outcome models showed that ASA class IV, independent of the SVS score, conferred an increased risk of mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 3.83; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.19-12.25; P = .0239) and complications (HR, 4.53; 95% CI, 1.69-12.13; P = .0027) but not rehospitalization (HR, 1.84; 95% CI, 0.93-3.68; P = .0817) compared with ASA class I-II. Procedural ASA class is associated with long-term outcomes among post-TEVAR patients, independent of the SVS score. The ASA class and SVS score remain important to patient counseling and postoperative outcomes beyond the index operation.

Development and Validation of an Electronic Health Record-based Score for Triage to Perioperative Medicine

OBJECTIVE

To develop an electronic health record-based risk model for perioperative medicine (POM) triage and compare this model with legacy triage practices that were based on clinician assessment.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA

POM clinicians seek to address the increasingly complex medical needs of patients prior to scheduled surgery. Identifying which patients might derive the most benefit from evaluation is challenging.

METHODS

Elective surgical cases performed within a health system 2014- 2019 (N = 470,727) were used to develop a predictive score, called the Comorbidity Assessment for Surgical Triage (CAST) score, using split validation. CAST incorporates patient and surgical case characteristics to predict the risk of 30-day post-operative morbidity, defined as a composite of mortality and major NSQIP complications. Thresholds of CAST were then selected to define risk groups, which correspond with triage to POM appointments of different durations and modalities. The predictive discrimination CAST score was compared with the surgeon's assessments of patient complexity and the American Society of Anesthesiologists class.

RESULTS

The CAST score demonstrated a significantly higher discrimination for predicting post-operative morbidity (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.75) than the surgeon's complexity designation (0.63; P < 0.001) or the American Society of Anesthesiologists (0.65; P < 0.001) ( Fig. 1 ). Incorporating the complexity designation in the CAST model did not significantly alter the discrimination (0.75; P = 0.098). Compared with the complexity designation, classification based on CAST score groups resulted a net reclassification improvement index of 10.4% ( P < 0.001) ( Table 1 ).

CONCLUSION

A parsimonious electronic health record-based predictive model demonstrates improved performance for identifying pre-surgical patients who are at risk than previously-used assessments for POM triage.

Perioperative Risk Assessment of Patients Using the MyRISK Digital Score Completed Before the Preanesthetic Consultation: Prospective Observational Study

BACKGROUND

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the potential of digital health solutions to adapt the organization of care in a crisis context.

OBJECTIVE

Our aim was to describe the relationship between the MyRISK score, derived from self-reported data collected by a chatbot before the preanesthetic consultation, and the occurrence of postoperative complications.

METHODS

This was a single-center prospective observational study that included 401 patients. The 16 items composing the MyRISK score were selected using the Delphi method. An algorithm was used to stratify patients with low (green), intermediate (orange), and high (red) risk. The primary end point concerned postoperative complications occurring in the first 6 months after surgery (composite criterion), collected by telephone and by consulting the electronic medical database. A logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify the explanatory variables associated with the complications. A machine learning model was trained to predict the MyRISK score using a larger data set of 1823 patients classified as green or red to reclassify individuals classified as orange as either modified green or modified red. User satisfaction and usability were assessed.

RESULTS

Of the 389 patients analyzed for the primary end point, 16 (4.1%) experienced a postoperative complication. A red score was independently associated with postoperative complications (odds ratio 5.9, 95% CI 1.5-22.3; P=.009). A modified red score was strongly correlated with postoperative complications (odds ratio 21.8, 95% CI 2.8-171.5; P=.003) and predicted postoperative complications with high sensitivity (94%) and high negative predictive value (99%) but with low specificity (49%) and very low positive predictive value (7%; area under the receiver operating characteristic curve=0.71). Patient satisfaction numeric rating scale and system usability scale median scores were 8.0 (IQR 7.0-9.0) out of 10 and 90.0 (IQR 82.5-95.0) out of 100, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The MyRISK digital perioperative risk score established before the preanesthetic consultation was independently associated with the occurrence of postoperative complications. Its negative predictive strength was increased using a machine learning model to reclassify patients identified as being at intermediate risk. This reliable numerical categorization could be used to objectively refer patients with low risk to teleconsultation.

Accuracy and Comprehensiveness in Recording Information of a Web-Based Application for Preoperative Assessment: A Prospective Observational Study

PURPOSE

Preanestes@s is a web-based application that includes a smart computer-based self-assessment preoperative questionnaire (PreQuest). Preanestes@s enables remote non-telephonic preoperative assessment via a virtual visit. We aimed to determine if the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status classification assigned by PreQuest and virtual visit is comparable with that assigned by face-to-face assessment, and to determine the accuracy of Preanestes@s in recording complementary preoperative information.

DESIGN

Prospective, observational, paired study.

METHODS

This study was conducted in a tertiary teaching hospital. A total of 510 adult patients scheduled for surgery were consecutively recruited. Of these, 220 patients were included in the analysis of ASA grade agreement.

FINDINGS

PreQuest and virtual visit showed higher predictive value than face-to-face assessment in detecting patients with ASA grades 1 to 2. Face-to-face assessment showed the highest rate of false negatives (ASA 3-4 misclassified as ASA 1-2), with a sensitivity of 44.2% versus 69.8% and 50% for PreQuest and virtual visit, respectively. Virtual visit showed the highest agreement with the ASA grade assigned by a panel of experts (kappa index 0.52, 95% confidence interval 0.15-0.89). PreQuest and virtual visit offered a more comprehensive registry of anthropometric data, more detailed record of chronic diseases condition, and more accurate registry of patients' treatments (virtual visit > PreQuest > face-to-face assessment).

CONCLUSIONS

The combined use of PreQuest and virtual visit offers a better performance in assigning the ASA grade for non-complex patients and a more accurate and detailed record of complementary information. This finding suggests the feasibility of Preanestes@ as a tool for preoperative assessment.

Delphi Consensus on American Society of Anesthesiologists' Physical Status Classification in an Asian Tertiary Women's Hospital

Background

The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score is generated based on patients’ clinical status. Accurate ASA classification is essential for the communication of perioperative risks and resource planning. Literature suggests that ASA classification can be automated for consistency and time-efficiency. To develop a rule-based algorithm for automated ASA classification, this study seeks to establish consensus in ASA classification for clinical conditions encountered at a tertiary women’s hospital.

Methods

Thirty-seven anesthesia providers rated their agreement on a 4-point Likert scale to ASA scores assigned to items via the Delphi technique. After Round 1, the group’s collective responses and individual item scores were shared with participants to improve their responses for Round 2. For each item, the percentage agreement (‘agree’ and ‘strongly agree’ responses combined), median (interquartile range/IQR), and SD were calculated. Consensus for each item was defined as a percentage agreement ≥ 70%, IQR ≤ 1.0, and SD < 1.0.

Results

All participants completed the study and none had missing data. The number of items that reached consensus increased from 25 (51.0%) to 37 (75.5%) in the second Delphi round, particularly for items assigned ASA scores of III and IV. Nine items, which pertained to alcohol intake, asthma, thyroid disease, limited exercise tolerance, and stable angina, did not reach consensus even after two Delphi rounds.

Conclusions

Delphi consensus was attained for 37 of the 49 study items (75.5%), facilitating their incorporation into a rule-based clinical support system designed to automate the prediction of ASA classification.

The Evolution, Current Value, and Future of the American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status Classification System

The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Physical Status classification system celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2021. Its simplicity represents its greatest strength as well as a limitation in a world of comprehensive multisystem tools. It was developed for statistical purposes and not as a surgical risk predictor. However, since it correlates well with multiple outcomes, it is widely used-appropriately or not-for risk prediction and many other purposes. It is timely to review the history and development of the system. The authors describe the controversies surrounding the ASA Physical Status classification, including the problems of interrater reliability and its limitations as a risk predictor. Last, the authors reflect on the current status and potential future of the ASA Physical Status system.

American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status Classification as a reliable predictor of postoperative medical complications and mortality following ambulatory surgery: an analysis of 2,089,830 ACS-NSQIP outpatient cases

BACKGROUND

Seventy percent of surgical procedures are currently performed in the outpatient setting. Although the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Physical Classification ability to predict risk has been evaluated for in-patient surgeries, an evaluation in outpatient surgeries has yet to be performed. The major goal of the current study is to determine if the ASA classification is an independent predictor for morbidity and mortality for outpatient surgeries.

METHODS

The 2005 through 2016 NSQIP Participant Use Data Files were queried to extract all patients scheduled for outpatient surgery. ASA PS class was the primary independent variable of interest. The primary outcome was 30-day medical complications, defined as having one or more of the following postoperative outcomes: (1) deep vein thrombosis, (2) pulmonary embolism, (3) reintubation, (4) failure to wean from ventilator, (5) renal insufficiency, (6) renal failure, (7) stroke, (8) cardiac arrest, (9) myocardial infarction, (10) pneumonia, (11) urinary tract infection, (12) systemic sepsis or septic shock. Mortality was also evaluated as a separate outcome.

RESULTS

A total of 2,089,830 cases were included in the study. 24,777 (1.19%) patients had medical complications and 1,701 (0.08%) died within 30 days. ASA PS IV patients had a much greater chance of dying when compared to healthy patients, OR (95%CI) of 89 (55 to 143), P < 0.001. Nonetheless, over 30,000 ASA PS IV patients had surgery in the outpatient setting. Multivariable analysis demonstrated a stepwise independent association between ASA PS class and medical complications (C statistic = 0.70), mortality (C statistic = 0.74) and readmissions (C statistic = 0.67). Risk stratifying ability was maintained across surgical procedures and anesthesia techniques.

CONCLUSIONS

ASA PS class is a simple risk stratification tool for surgeries in the outpatient setting. Patients with higher ASA PS classes subsequently developed medical complications or mortality at a greater frequency than patients with lower ASA PS class after outpatient surgery. Our results suggest that the ambulatory setting may not be able to match the needs of high-risk patients.

Proof of concept: digital clock drawing behaviors prior to transcatheter aortic valve replacement may predict length of hospital stay and cost of care

Aims

Reduced pre-operative cognitive functioning in older adults is a risk factor for postoperative complications, but it is unknown if preoperative digitally-acquired clock drawing test (CDT) cognitive screening variables, which allow for more nuanced examination of patient performance, may predict lengthier hospital stay and greater cost of hospital care. This issue is particularly relevant for older adults undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), as this surgical procedure is chosen for intermediate-risk older adults needing aortic replacement. This proof of concept research explored if specific latency and graphomotor variables indicative of planning from digitally-acquired command and copy clock drawing would predict post-TAVR duration and cost of hospitalization, over and above age, education, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status classification score, and frailty.

Methods

Form January 2018 to December 2019, 162 out of 190 individuals electing TAVR completed digital clock drawing as part of a hospital wide cognitive screening program. Separate hierarchical regressions were computed for the command and copy conditions of the CDT and assessed how a-priori selected clock drawing metrics (total time to completion, ideal digit placement difference, and hour hand distance from center; included within the same block) incrementally predicted outcome, as measured by R² change significance values.

Results

Above and beyond age, education, ASA physical status classification score, and frailty, only digitally-acquired CDT copy performance explained significant variance for length of hospital stay (9.5%) and cost of care (8.9%).

Conclusions

Digital variables from clock copy condition provided predictive value over common demographic and comorbidity variables. We hypothesize this is due to the sensitivity of the copy condition to executive dysfunction, as has been shown in previous studies for subtypes of cognitive impairment. Individuals undergoing TAVR procedures are often frail and executively compromised due to their cerebrovascular disease. We encourage additional research on the value of digitally-acquired clock drawing within different surgery types. Type of cognitive impairment and the value of digitally-acquired CDT command and copy parameters in other surgeries remain unknown.

Preoperative anaesthesia triage with a patient-centred system-A prospective clinical study

BACKGROUND

Increase in day surgery has challenged preoperative anaesthesia with need to identify a few high-risk patients requiring detailed preoperative intervention. We aimed to assess if a nurse-administered Preoperative Patient-centred Anaesthesia System (Pre-PAS) could identify high-risk patients, defined as ASA score III-IV, before surgery and allow triage in standard preanaesthesia care. We hypothesized that Pre-PAS ≥ 1 would identify ASA III-IV patients with high specificity.

METHODS

We conducted a prospective study, where twelve preoperative risk factors were recorded before surgery with the Pre-PAS questionnaire along with a score from zero to twelve based on the number of positive criteria. Only patients with a Pre-PAS score ≥ 1 were followed by mandatory preoperative anaesthetists' assessment visit. Medical records were reviewed to ensure accurate ASA score evaluation, surgical cancellations and airway difficulties. Association between Pre-PAS score and ASA score was evaluated by Fisher's exact test.

RESULTS

In a total of 487 included patients, 92% of high-risk patients (ASA III-IV) and 54% of low-risk patients (ASA I-II) had Pre-PAS score ≥ 1 (P ≤ .001). Nine out of 12 Pre-PAS criteria were significantly associated with higher frequency in ASA III-IV. Pre-PAS reduced number of preanaesthetic visits by 39%. Pre-PAS ≥ 1 had a sensitivity of 0.92 and a specificity of 0.46 for ASA III-IV.

CONCLUSIONS

A patient-centred preoperative triage system had high sensitivity for identifying ASA III-IV, and multiple Pre-PAS variables were associated with ASA III-IV, but the model had low specificity. Pre-PAS may guide triage of relevant patients to preanaesthetic visit.

Laparoendoscopic rendezvous versus ERCP followed by laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the management of cholecystocholedocholithiasis: a systemic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

The ideal management for patients with cholecystocholedocholithiasis is still controversial. Laparoendoscopic rendezvous (LERV), combined with laparoscopy and endoscopy, is a novel and attractive technique. The aim of this research was to compare LERV with traditional two-stage management, preoperative ERCP and laparoscopic cholecystectomy (ERCP + LC), for treating patients with cholecystocholedocholithiasis.

METHOD

Four databases, the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, and Medline, all updated to through September 2019, were searched to identify comparative studies on LERV versus ERCP + LC for treating cholecystocholedocholithiasis. Total operative time, successful common bile duct (CBD) stone clearance, postoperative morbidity, conversion to other procedures, and length of hospital stay were evaluated. Pooled data were measured by odds ratios (ORs) and mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS

Eight studies with a total of 1061 patients were included in this meta-analysis, including 542 patients who received LERV and 519 patients who received ERCP + LC. There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding successful CBD stone clearance (OR 2.20, P = 0.10), postoperative bleeding (OR 0.67, P = 0.37), postoperative cholangitis (OR 0.66, P = 0.53), postoperative bile leak (OR 0.87, P = 0.81), or conversion to other procedures (OR 0.75, P = 0.62). The total operative time was longer in the LERV group (MD = 44.93, P < 0.00001), while LERV was associated with less postoperative pancreatitis than the two-stage management group (OR 0.26, P = 0.0003). The incidence of overall morbidity was lower in the LERV group than in the two-stage management group (OR 0.41, P < 0.0001), and the LERV group had a shorter hospital stay (MD = - 3.52, P < 0.00001).

CONCLUSION

LERV is equivalent to traditional two-stage procedures in terms of CBD stone clearance and conversion, with less pancreatitis, lower overall morbidity, and shorter hospital stay but longer operation time. More clinical trials are needed to determine the best treatment for patients in different conditions.

Addressing Inter-Rater Variability in the ASA-PS Classification System

INTRODUCTION

The American Society of Anesthesiologists' Physical Status (ASA-PS) Classification System was established to grade a patient's physical status prior to surgery. The literature shows inconsistencies in the application of the ASA-PS classification among providers. The many uses of the ASA-PS class require reliable ASA-PS class designations between providers. While much literature illustrates the inconsistency, there is limited research on how to improve inter-rater agreement.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Following an educational intervention targeted at medicine providers, a retrospective chart review was completed to determine the long-term impact of an educational intervention on ASA-PS class agreement among providers of different specialties. To assess the overall agreement between the data sets following the intervention, kappa statistics were calculated for the medicine and anesthesia data sets. These values were compared to the kappa statistics from a similar study completed prior to the educational intervention.

RESULTS

Overall, the kappa score, or agreement, between medicine and anesthesia providers improved from the range generally accepted to indicate slight agreement to the range indicating moderate agreement.

CONCLUSIONS

While there was improvement in agreement following an education intervention, the agreement seen was not statistically significant. More research needs to be done to determine how to improve inter-rater reliability of the ASA-PS classification system with a focus on non-anesthesia providers.

Effects of Cariogenic Bacteria and Sealant Evaluated by International Caries Detection Assessment System

Aim:

Evaluation of tooth surface level effect of cariogenic bacteria and sealant.

Background:

International Caries Detection Assessment System (ICADS) is a clinical scoring system that can assess the non-cavitated early stage of dental caries by surface level. Scores used in ICDAS are ordinary and each tooth within one individual is not statistically independent.

Objective:

In this study, by applying mixed effect modeling, the effect of cariogenic bacteria and fissure sealant for tooth surface-level caries progression was analyzed.

Methods:

Ninety-eight patients who had been regularly visited the dental hospital for the regular check-ups were enrolled in this study. Among them, patients who visited at baseline, after one and two years, were included for the analysis. Fifty-two patients were dropped out. The study population consisted of 25 boys and 21girls and their mean ages were 9.3 +/- 2.1. Salivary levels of cariogenic bacteria were measured by qPCR. Mixed effect modeling with repeated measures was applied for the analysis.

Results:

Salivary levels ofS. mutansandLactobacilliwere affected by the progression of the ICDAS score. Maxillary teeth, molars and buccal and occlusal surfaces were tended to progress. Maxillary tooth, molar tooth and buccal, approximal, and occlusal surface were tended to be affected by both cariogenic bacteria.

Conclusion:

By applying mixed effect modeling, highly-detailed surface-level analysis can be available.

Feasibility and Rationale for Incorporating Frailty and Cognitive Screening Protocols in a Preoperative Anesthesia Clinic

BACKGROUND

Advanced age, frailty, low education level, and impaired cognition are generally reported to be associated with postoperative cognitive complications. To translate research findings into hospital-wide preoperative assessment clinical practice, we examined the feasibility of implementing a preoperative frailty and cognitive assessment for all older adults electing surgical procedures in a tertiary medical center. We examined associations among age, education, frailty, and comorbidity with the clock and 3-word memory scores, estimated the prevalence of mild to major cognitive impairment in the presurgical sample, and examined factors related to hospital length of stay.

METHODS

Medical staff screened adults ≥65 years of age for frailty, general cognition (via the clock-drawing test command and copy, 3-word memory test), and obtained years of education. Feasibility was studied in 2 phases: (1) a pilot phase involving 4 advanced nurse practitioners and (2) a 2-month implementation phase involving all preoperative staff. We tracked sources of missing data, investigated associations of study variables with measures of cognition, and used 2 approaches to estimate the likelihood of dementia in our sample (ie, using extant data and logistic regression modeling and using Mini-Cog cut scores). We explored which protocol variables related to hospital length of stay.

RESULTS

The final implementation phase sample included 678 patients. Clock and 3-word memory scores were significantly associated with age, frailty, and education. Education, clock scores, and 3-word scores were not significantly different by surgery type. Likelihood of preoperative cognitive impairment was approximately 20%, with no difference by surgery type. Length of stay was significantly associated with preoperative comorbidity and performance on the clock copy condition.

CONCLUSIONS

Frailty and cognitive screening protocols are feasible and provide information for perioperative care planning. Challenges to clinical adaptation include staff training, missing data, and additional administration time. These challenges appear minimal relative to the benefits of identifying frailty and cognitive impairment in a group at risk for negative postoperative cognitive outcome.