Does Chronological Age Adequately Stratify Perioperative Risk? A Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study Using Frailty and Handgrip Strength
Abstract
Background: Chronological age remains deeply embedded in perioperative risk assessment because it is readily available and intuitively linked to adverse outcomes. In clinical practice, however, patients of similar age frequently experience markedly different postoperative trajectories. This observation may suggest that physiological reserve, rather than years lived, more accurately reflects vulnerability to surgical stress. We therefore examined whether age-based stratification misclassifies perioperative risk when compared with functional phenotyping using frailty status and baseline handgrip strength. Methods: We conducted a prospective, multicenter observational cohort study including 223 adults undergoing elective abdominal surgery between January 2023 and June 2025. Chronological age was evaluated both continuously and using a conventional threshold (<70 vs ≥70 years). Physiological reserve was characterized using a phenotype-based frailty model (fit, pre-frail, frail) and baseline handgrip strength measured at hospital admission. Prolonged hospitalization, defined a priori as a length of stay exceeding 10 days, was used as an external benchmark to examine classification performance. Analyses were primarily descriptive and classificatory, focusing on discordance, overlap, and risk re-ranking across age and functional strata rather than outcome prediction. Results: Substantial discordance was observed between chronological age and frailty phenotype. Among patients younger than 70 years, 7.7% met criteria for frailty, whereas 58.0% of patients aged 70 years or older were classified as fit or pre-frail. Prolonged hospitalization occurred in 48 patients (21.5%) and varied markedly by frailty status within each age group. Frail individuals consistently exhibited the highest hospitalization burden regardless of age, while fit and pre-frail older patients often demonstrated outcomes comparable to, or better than, younger fit patients. Baseline handgrip strength showed wide dispersion and extensive overlap between age groups, indicating substantial inter-individual variability in physiological reserve that chronological age alone did not capture. Conclusions: Chronological age appears to provide limited discriminatory resolution for perioperative risk stratification. Functional phenotyping using frailty status and baseline handgrip strength may better reflect underlying physiological reserve and support more individualized, function-centered perioperative decision-making.
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BibTeX
@article{girnyi2026does,
title = {{Does Chronological Age Adequately Stratify Perioperative Risk? A Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study Using Frailty and Handgrip Strength}},
author = {Sergii Girnyi and Virginia Boccardi and Elena Montanari and Eugenia Semeraro and Alessandra Marano and Mauro Santarelli and Silvia Malerba and Francesco Paolo Prete and Mario Testini and Jarosław Skokowski and Tomasz Cwalinski and Mathias Schlögl and Morten Tange Kristensen and Mahmoud Al-Balas and Luigi Marano},
journal = {Journal of Clinical Medicine},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.3390/jcm15114187},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm15114187},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Does Chronological Age Adequately Stratify Perioperative Risk? A Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study Using Frailty and Handgrip Strength
AU - Sergii Girnyi
AU - Virginia Boccardi
AU - Elena Montanari
AU - Eugenia Semeraro
AU - Alessandra Marano
AU - Mauro Santarelli
AU - Silvia Malerba
AU - Francesco Paolo Prete
AU - Mario Testini
AU - Jarosław Skokowski
AU - Tomasz Cwalinski
AU - Mathias Schlögl
AU - Morten Tange Kristensen
AU - Mahmoud Al-Balas
AU - Luigi Marano
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/28
JO - Journal of Clinical Medicine
DO - 10.3390/jcm15114187
UR - https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm15114187
AB - Background: Chronological age remains deeply embedded in perioperative risk assessment because it is readily available and intuitively linked to adverse outcomes. In clinical practice, however, patients of similar age frequently experience markedly different postoperative trajectories. This observation may suggest that physiological reserve, rather than years lived, more accurately reflects vulnerability to surgical stress. We therefore examined whether age-based stratification misclassifies perioperative risk when compared with functional phenotyping using frailty status and baseline handgrip strength. Methods: We conducted a prospective, multicenter observational cohort study including 223 adults undergoing elective abdominal surgery between January 2023 and June 2025. Chronological age was evaluated both continuously and using a conventional threshold (<70 vs ≥70 years). Physiological reserve was characterized using a phenotype-based frailty model (fit, pre-frail, frail) and baseline handgrip strength measured at hospital admission. Prolonged hospitalization, defined a priori as a length of stay exceeding 10 days, was used as an external benchmark to examine classification performance. Analyses were primarily descriptive and classificatory, focusing on discordance, overlap, and risk re-ranking across age and functional strata rather than outcome prediction. Results: Substantial discordance was observed between chronological age and frailty phenotype. Among patients younger than 70 years, 7.7% met criteria for frailty, whereas 58.0% of patients aged 70 years or older were classified as fit or pre-frail. Prolonged hospitalization occurred in 48 patients (21.5%) and varied markedly by frailty status within each age group. Frail individuals consistently exhibited the highest hospitalization burden regardless of age, while fit and pre-frail older patients often demonstrated outcomes comparable to, or better than, younger fit patients. Baseline handgrip strength showed wide dispersion and extensive overlap between age groups, indicating substantial inter-individual variability in physiological reserve that chronological age alone did not capture. Conclusions: Chronological age appears to provide limited discriminatory resolution for perioperative risk stratification. Functional phenotyping using frailty status and baseline handgrip strength may better reflect underlying physiological reserve and support more individualized, function-centered perioperative decision-making.
SN - 2077-0383
ER -