Background:Hospitalization-associated disability (HAD) is associated with prolonged functional decline and increased mortality after discharge. Therefore, we examined the incidence and risk factors associated with HAD in elderly patients undergoing cardiac surgery in Japan.Methods and Results:We retrospectively examined 2,262 elderly patients who underwent elective cardiac surgery at Sakakibara Heart Institute. HAD was defined as a functional decline between time of admission and discharge measured by the Barthel Index. We analyzed clinical characteristics using machine learning algorithms to identify the risk factors associated with HAD. After excluding 203 patients, 2,059 patients remained, of whom 108 (5.2%) developed HAD after cardiac surgery. The risk factors identified were age, serum albumin concentration, estimated glomerular filtration rate, Revised Hasegawa’s Dementia Scale, N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide, vital capacity, preoperative Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) score, operation times, cardiopulmonary bypass times, ventilator times, length of postoperative intensive care unit stay, and postoperative ambulation start day. The highest incidence of HAD was found in patients with an SPPB score ≤9 and in those who started ambulation >6 days after surgery (76.9%).Conclusions:Several risk factors for HAD are components of frailty, suggesting that preoperative rehabilitation to reduce the risk of HAD is feasible. Furthermore, the association between HAD and a delayed start of ambulation reaffirms the importance of early mobilization and rehabilitation.

Background: We investigated the components of frailty associated with hospitalization-associated disability (HAD) after cardiac surgery.Methods and Results: This retrospective, observational study evaluated 1,446 older patients after elective cardiac surgery at the Sakakibara Heart Institute. We examined the association between HAD and 7 domains of frailty assessed by the Kihon Checklist. HAD was defined as a decline in the ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL) between admission and discharge, as assessed by the Barthel Index. Logistic regression and decision tree analysis were used to identify associations between the number and type of frailty components and HAD. Of the 1,446 patients, 190 were excluded, and 90 (7%) developed HAD. An increase in the number of frailty components was a risk factor for HAD (odds ratio: 1.88, 95% confidence interval: 1.62–2.17). Decision tree analysis identified physical functional decline, depression, and cognitive dysfunction as factors associated with HAD. The incidence of HAD was highest in cases of physical functional decline (21%) and lowest for cases in which the 3 aforementioned factors were absent (2.8%).Conclusions: An increased number of frailty factors increased the risk of HAD and the findings also reaffirmed the importance of a comprehensive assessment to evaluate the risk of HAD, including evaluation of physical function, cognitive function, and depression.

The in-hospital mortality rate among patients after surgery for acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) has improved chronologically. However, the relationship between the incidence of hospitalisation-associated disability (HAD) and acute cardiac rehabilitation in patients after surgery for ATAAD has not been reported. Therefore, this study evaluated factors related to HAD in patients after surgery for ATAAD. This single-centre retrospective observational study included 483 patients who required emergency surgery for ATAAD. HAD occurred in 104 (21.5%) patients following cardiovascular surgery. Factors associated with HAD were age (odds ratio [OR], 1.05; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02–1.09; p = 0.001), noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV; OR, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.10–4.19; p = 0.025), postoperative delirium (OR, 2.93; 95% CI, 1.60–5.37; p = 0.001), and timing of walking onset (OR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.07–1.56; p = 0.008). Furthermore, a late walking onset was associated with a higher risk of developing HAD and more severe functional decline. Early rehabilitation based on appropriate criteria has possibility of preventing HAD.

Hospital-acquired functional decline is an important outcome that affects the long-term prognosis of patients after cardiac surgery. Phase II cardiac rehabilitation (CR) for outpatients is expected to improve prognosis; however, this is not clear in patients with hospital-acquired functional decline after cardiac surgery. Therefore, this study evaluated whether phase II CR improved the long-term prognosis of patients with hospital-acquired functional decline after cardiac surgery. This single-center, retrospective observational study included 2371 patients who required cardiac surgery. Hospital-acquired functional decline occurred in 377 patients (15.9%) after cardiac surgery. The mean follow-up period was 1219 ± 682 days in all patients, and there were 221 (9.3%) cases with major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) after discharge during the follow-up period. The Kaplan–Meier survival curves indicated that hospital-acquired functional decline and non-phase II CR was associated with a higher incidence of MACE than other groups (log-rank, p < 0.001), additionally exhibiting prognosticating MACE in multivariate Cox regression analysis (HR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.01–2.50; p = 0.047). Hospital-acquired functional decline after cardiac surgery and non-phase II CR were risk factors for MACE. The participation in phase II CR in patients with hospital-acquired functional decline after cardiac surgery could reduce the risk of MACE.