Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39765405›Full record

Observational studyBritish journal of anaesthesia2025

Characteristics of older patients undergoing surgery in the UK: SNAP-3, a snapshot observational study.

Claire Jane Swarbrick, Karen Williams, Bob Evans, Helen Abigail Blake, Thomas Poulton, Samuel Nava, Akshay Shah, Peter Martin, Judith Stephanie Louise Partridge, Iain Keith Moppett and 1 more

Abstract readObservational Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Observational study in British journal of anaesthesia, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Claire Jane SwarbrickAnaesthesia, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Exeter, UK; Centre for Research and Improvement, Royal College of Anaesthetists, London, UK; Anaesthesia a Critical Care, Injury, Recovery and Inflammation Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK. Electronic address: Claire.swarbrick@nottingham.ac.uk.
Karen WilliamsCentre for Research and Improvement, Royal College of Anaesthetists, London, UK.
Bob EvansPatient, Carer and Public Involvement and Engagement (PCPIE) Group, Royal College of Anaesthetists, London, UK.
Helen Abigail BlakeDepartment of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, London, UK.
Thomas PoultonDepartment of Anaesthesia, Perioperative Medicine, and Pain Medicine, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Critical Care, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Research Department of Targeted Intervention, University College London, London, UK.
Samuel NavaRoyal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, Bath, UK.
Akshay ShahNuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Department of Anaesthesia, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK.
Peter MartinDepartment of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, London, UK.
Judith Stephanie Louise PartridgePerioperative Medicine for Older People Undergoing Surgery (POPS), Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK; School of Population Health and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College Hospital, London, UK.
Iain Keith MoppettCentre for Research and Improvement, Royal College of Anaesthetists, London, UK; Anaesthesia a Critical Care, Injury, Recovery and Inflammation Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
SNAP-3 collaborators

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFrailty and multimorbidity are common in older adults, but the prevalence and interaction of these conditions in surgical patients remain unclear. This study describes the clinical characteristics of a heterogeneous cohort of older UK surgical patients.

methodsWe conducted a prospective observational cohort study during 5 days in March 2022, aiming to recruit all UK patients aged 60 yr and older undergoing surgery, excluding minor procedures (e.g. cataract surgery). Data were collected on patient characteristics, clinical care, frailty, and multimorbidity measures.

resultsA total of 7134 patients from 214 NHS hospitals were recruited, with a mean (sd) age of 72.8 (8.1) yr. Of all operations, 69% (95% confidence interval [CI] 67.9-70.1%) were elective, and 34% (95% CI 32.7-34.8%) were day cases. Of the patients, 19% (95% CI 18.3-20.1%) were living with frailty (Clinical Frailty Score ≥5), and 63.1% (95% CI 62.0-64.3%) were living with multimorbidity (count of ≥2 comorbidities). Those living with frailty, multimorbidity, or both were typically older, were from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and experienced greater polypharmacy and reduced independence. Patients living with frailty were less likely to undergo elective and day-case surgeries. Four out of five (78.8% [1079/1369]) of those who were living with frailty were also living with multimorbidity; 27.1% (1079/3978) of those who were living with multimorbidity were also living with frailty.

conclusionsIn the UK, one in five older patients undergoing surgery is living with frailty, and almost two-thirds of older patients are living with multimorbidity. These data highlight the importance of frailty screening. In addition, they can serve to guide resource allocation and provide comparative estimates for future research.

Indexed as

FrailtySurgical Procedures, OperativeAgedAged, 80 and overCohort StudiesElective Surgical ProceduresFemaleFrail ElderlyGeriatric AssessmentHumansMaleMiddle AgedMultimorbidityProspective StudiesUnited Kingdomageingepidemiologyfrailty syndromegeriatric medicinemultimorbidityperioperative caresurgery

Identifiers

PMID39765405
PMCPMC11775840

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.