The Effect of Frailty in Predicting Outcomes of Rib Fractures Among Elderly Patients.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Rib fractures are consequential injuries for geriatric trauma patients. Frailty has been associated with adverse outcomes in this population. The Rib Fracture Frailty Index (RFF) and 5-factor modified Frailty Index (mFI) are 2 validated frailty metrics. Research assessing inclusion of frailty metrics in geriatric rib fractures triage protocols is limited. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed for trauma patients ≥50 years old with rib fractures admitted to a Level I trauma center, which currently uses percent predicted forced vital capacity (FVC%) to triage rib fractures patients. Frailty metrics (RFF & mFI) were calculated retrospectively, stratifying patients as low, moderate, or severe frailty. Unfavorable discharge disposition (UDD) was defined as discharge to facility or death. Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios were used to assess frailty with outcome variables. RESULTS: In total, 834 patients were included from August 2018 - May 2023, with mean age of 69.1. A majority had low frailty (64.0 vs 40.3%), followed by moderate frailty (21.1 vs 30.7%), then severe frailty (14.9 vs 29.0%) for RFF and mFI, respectively. Age, sex, and ISS differed between groups. For RFF, increased frailty was associated with longer hospital and ICU length of stay. Neither frailty metric was associated with unplanned ICU transfer or intubation. In the adjusted analysis, frail patients were more likely to have UDD (OR 8.9, CI 3.4-23.0, P < .0001). CONCLUSION: While both frailty metrics were predictive of UDD, neither was associated with ICU transfer or intubation, suggesting that frailty does not enhance the accuracy of our current protocol using FVC%.