Frailty is a multifactorial condition associated with older age, which leads to increased vulnerability to external stressors, such as infections or surgical procedures. Key features of frailty are unintentional weight loss, reduced strength and physical activity as well as the feeling of exhaustion.

When selecting patients for surgery, frailty can play an important part in resource planning and prognostication. Multiple studies have shown frailty to have a negative impact on mortality, perioperative adverse events, hospital length of stay as well as postoperative quality of life and functional status. Despite it being an important patient-centered outcome, postoperative quality of life tends to be overlooked when selecting patients for surgery.

Cardiac surgery presents a massive stressor to the frail patient, but on the other hand might have the ability to reduce disease burden and improve functional status, thus reducing frailty.

This prospective observational cohort study aims to assess frailty, as well as functional status and quality of life in cardiosurgical patients pre- and postoperatively, and evaluate its impact on postoperative clinical and functional outcomes.

The primary endpoint of this study is the change in postoperative level of frailty.

Inclusion Criteria:

• age ≥ 60 years
• elective cardiac surgery

Exclusion Criteria:

• age < 60 years
• emergency procedures
• pulmonary thromboendarterectomy
• declined informed consent
• pregnant women

Patients undergoing an elective cardiac surgical intervention