Frailty status as a predictor of 3-month cognitive and functional recovery following spinal surgery: a prospective pilot study

Background context: As increasing numbers of elderly Americans undergo spinal surgery, it is important to identify which patients are at highest risk for poor cognitive and functional recovery. Frailty is a geriatric syndrome that has been closely linked to poor outcomes, and short-form screening may be a helpful tool for preoperative identification of at-risk patients.

Purpose: This study aimed to conduct a pilot study on the usefulness of a short-form screening tool to identify elderly patients at increased risk for prolonged cognitive and functional recovery following elective spine surgery.

Study design/setting: This is a prospective, comparative cohort study.

Patient sample: The sample comprised 100 patients over age 65 who underwent elective spinal surgery (cervical or lumbar) at a single, large academic medical center from 2013 to 2014.

Outcome measures: Fatigue, Resistance, Ambulation, Illnesses, Loss of Weight (FRAIL) scale, Postoperative Quality of Recovery Scale (PQRS), and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) scores were the outcome measures.

Methods: Included patients were assessed with the FRAIL scale and stratified as robust, pre-frail, or frail. The PQRS and IADL scores were also obtained. Patients were re-examined at 1 day, 3 days, 1 month, and 3 months after surgery for cognitive recovery at 3 months, and secondarily, functional recovery at 3 months.

Results: At 3 months, only 50% of frail patients had recovered to their cognitive baseline compared with 60.7% of pre-frail and 69.2% of robust patients (trend). At 3 months, 66.7% of frail patients had recovered to their functional baseline compared with 57% of pre-frail and 76.9% of robust patients (trend). Using multivariate regression modeling, at 3 months, frail patients were less likely to have recovered to their cognitive baseline compared with pre-frail and robust patients (odds ratio 0.39, confidence interval 0.131-1.161).

Conclusions: This pilot study demonstrates a trend toward poorer cognitive recovery 3 months following elective spinal surgery for frail patients. Frailty screening can help preoperatively identify patients who may experience protracted cognitive and functional recovery.