Winston-Salem (North Carolina) [US], November 6 (ANI): According to a new study from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, frailty is related to greater chances of death and serious morbidity after surgery.

JAMA Network Open published the findings of the study.

Also Read | Snake Venom Drug Abuse: Can You Get High on Snake Bite Venom? Know About Snake Venom Drug Addiction, Symptoms, Side Effects and Treatment.

"Frailty refers to a lack of functional or physiological reserve that determines whether patients bounce back from a health event such as surgery or illness," said Ashish K. Khanna, M.D., associate professor of anesthesiology and vice-chair of research with the department of anesthesiology, section on critical care medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and corresponding author of the study.

According to Khanna, most rating scales to assess frailty require considerable time and resources. In-clinic assessments also often include patient self-reported questionnaires and physical examinations by clinicians with varying, sometimes subjective results.

Also Read | Cardiovascular-Related Deaths Due to Extreme Heat Expected To Increase Between 2036 and 2065, Says Study.

In 2019, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center integrated an electronic frailty index (eFI) into electronic health records (EHR). The eFI is a passive digital marker, which leverages routine clinical care to yield an assessment of an older adult's frailty.

The Wake Forest eFI was adapted by Kate Callahan, M.D., associate professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine, and Nicholas Pajewski, Ph.D., associate professor for biostatistics and data science, from previous work conducted in Canada and England. The tool provides an automated score (reported as a proportion on a scale between 0-1) derived from two years of EHR data that uses over 50 health deficits including medical diagnoses, medications, lab tests, vital signs, physical function and more. It categorizes patients as fit (eFI

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)