The analysis of correlation between frailty index and postoperative complications of aged patients with nodular goiter

OBJECTIVE: To explore the correlation between frailty index (FI) and postoperative complications of aged patients with nodular goiter (NG). METHODS: A total of 120 aged patients with NG undergoing operative treatment from May 2013 to October 2015 in our hospital were selected. All of them were divided into 3 groups according to the FI as follows: nonfrail group (FI < 0.2), intermediately frail group (0.2 ≤ FI < 0.4), and frail group (FI ≥ 0.4). Clinical data of patients about general data, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) classification, hospital stays, and postoperative complications were examined. Then, the correlations between the indexes above and FI were examined. RESULTS: Frailty index and the ASA classification have some relevance (r = .265, P = .007). The postoperative complication rates of total nonfrail group, intermediately frail group, and frail group were, respectively, 4 cases (11.4%), 11 cases (31.4%), and 24 cases (48.0%). With the increase in FI, the incidence of postoperative complications and hospital stays had also significantly increased. The area under receiver operating characteristic curve examining frailty's ability to forecast postoperative complications was 0. 815 (95% CI: 0.675‐0.954, P = .000). CONCLUSION: The level of frailty index is a risk factor for postoperative complications of aged patients with NG. The preoperative frailty index evaluation can provide reference evidence for the treatment of aged NG patients undergoing surgery.