GEMSSTAR R03 AbstractFrailty is the occurrence of decreased reserve and functional decline with resultant vulnerability and pooroutcomes in recovery from a stressor usually in older patients. Although frailty is distinct from age, it is highlycorrelated, and as the US population ages, the prevalence of frailty will likely increase. The growing prevalenceof older patient population and frailty will place greater demands on surgical services. One third of all patientsaged 65-85 will undergo a major surgical procedure within the last year of life. To provide the best quality ofcare, it is imperative that healthcare providers and hospitals develop strategies to meet these growingdemands and to ensure higher-quality care for geriatric surgical patients. Recent data demonstrate that frailtyis a powerful predictor of increased perioperative mortality, morbidity and cost in various surgical populations.Failure to rescue (FTR) refers to a failure to prevent death from treatable complications during hospitalization(e.g. major hemorrhage after surgery) and is used a metric for hospital quality.Our study aims to show that frailty impacts failure to rescue independent of other hospital factors. We alsothink that certain hospitals are better at rescuing frail patients and we aim to identify characteristics of suchhospitals. Although intuitive, this association has not been studied so far. This will be the first study to examinethe interplay of frailty, which is primarily a patient characteristic, and FTR- a quality indicator believed tohospital dependent. The proposal also entails a detailed professional development plan with training that willbe essential both for successful completion of this research and toward Dr. Arya's career development andtransition to aging and surgical quality research. Significant findings from this study will change the way failureto rescue research is used for hospital quality and will lay the groundwork for development of new interventionsor protocols on a patient as well as hospital level to improve surgical outcomes in frail patients.

Public Health Relevance

Relevance To Public HealthFailure to rescue is a widely used metric for hospital quality comparisons and signifies the ability of hospitals torescue patients from complications and avert death; while; frailty is a syndrome of decreased physiologicalreserve to survive an adverse event or complication after a stressor like surgery. This study will explore theassociation between frailty and failure to rescue in a growing aging surgical population and identify hospitalcharacteristics that lead to better rescue rates in frail patients forming the groundwork for developing patientand hospital level protocols to improve the surgical care of frail patients and improve hospital quality. Theassociated professional development plan will serve as a platform for career development of the candidate asshe transitions to independent investigator status.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Small Research Grants (R03)
Project #
5R03AG050930-02
Application #
9326118
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZAG1-ZIJ-3 (M1))
Program Officer
Salive, Marcel
Project Start
2016-08-15
Project End
2018-04-30
Budget Start
2017-05-15
Budget End
2018-04-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2017
Total Cost
$105,300
Indirect Cost
$37,800
Name
Emory University
Department
Surgery
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
066469933
City
Atlanta
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30322
Arya, Shipra; Khakharia, Anjali; Binney, Zachary O et al. (2018) Association of Statin Dose With Amputation and Survival in Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease. Circulation 137:1435-1446
Arya, Shipra; Binney, Zachary O; Khakharia, Anjali et al. (2018) High hemoglobin A1c associated with increased adverse limb events in peripheral arterial disease patients undergoing revascularization. J Vasc Surg 67:217-228.e1
Arya, Shipra; Lee, Sujin; Zahner, Greg J et al. (2018) The association of comorbid depression with mortality and amputation in veterans with peripheral artery disease. J Vasc Surg 68:536-545.e2
Hall, Daniel E; Arya, Shipra; Schmid, Kendra K et al. (2017) Association of a Frailty Screening Initiative With Postoperative Survival at 30, 180, and 365 Days. JAMA Surg 152:233-240
Hall, Daniel E; Arya, Shipra; Schmid, Kendra K et al. (2017) Development and Initial Validation of the Risk Analysis Index for Measuring Frailty in Surgical Populations. JAMA Surg 152:175-182