Few Anesthesiologists Screen Seniors for Frailty, Dementia

A study from the Icahn School of Medicine in Perioperative Medicine found few U.S. anesthesiologists report preoperative screening for frailty or dementia or postoperative screening for delirium among older adults, reports Medical Xpress . The researchers polled 1,737 American Society of Anesthesiology members, and 96.4 percent of respondents said they had cared for someone 65 or older in the previous year, while 47.1 percent reported using multimodal analgesia among persons 65 or older at least 90 percent of the time. Moreover, 25.5 percent supplied preoperative information about risk for postoperative cognitive changes at least 90 percent of the time. Over 80 percent of respondents said preoperative screening for frailty or dementia, postoperative screening for delirium, or preoperative geriatric consultation was performed in less than 10 percent of cases. The initiatives most often prioritized to enhance care in this area included development of practice guidelines for geriatric anesthesia care and expansion of Web-based resources. "People with cognitive impairment and frailty can have better recovery and fewer complications if the condition is recognized and used to tailor their perioperative care," said the Icahn School of Medicine's Stacie Deiner.