Prevalence and Risk Factors of Preoperative Frailty in Chinese Elderly Inpatients with Gastrointestinal Cancer Undergoing Surgery: A Single-center Cross-sectional Study Using the Groningen Frailty Indicator

Background: Frailty is emerging as an important determinant for health. Compared with Western countries, research in the field of frailty started at a later stage in China and mainly focused on older community dwellers. Little is known about frailty in Chinese cancer patients, nor the risk factors of frailty. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of frailty and its risk factors in elderly inpatients with gastrointestinal cancer. MethodsThis cross-sectional study was performed at a tertiary hospital in China from Mar. 2020 to Nov. 2020. The study enrolled 265 inpatients aged 60 and older with gastrointestinal cancer who underwent surgery. The demographic and clinical characteristics, biochemical laboratory parameters, and anthropometric data were collected from all patients. The Groningen Frailty Indicator was applied to assess the frailty status of patients. Multivariate logistic regression model analysis was carried out to identify risk factors of frailty and estimate their 95% confidence intervals. ResultsThe prevalence of frailty in elderly inpatients with gastrointestinal cancer was 43.8%. A multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that older age (OR=1.065, 95% CI: 1.001-1.132, P =0.045), low handgrip strength (OR=4.346, 95% CI: 1.739-10.863, P =0.002), no regular exercise habit (OR=3.228, 95% CI: 1.230-8.469, P =0.017), and low MNA-SF score (OR=11.090, 95% CI: 5.119-24.024, P <0.001) were risk factors of frailty. ConclusionsThis study suggested that the prevalence of frailty was high among elderly inpatients with gastrointestinal cancer. Older age, low handgrip strength, no regular exercise habit, and low MNA-SF score were identified as risk factors of frailty.