Impact of Preoperative Anemia on Healthcare Outcomes

Preoperative anemia is a known risk factor for morbidity, mortality and increased healthcare resource utilisation. The Investigator's previous study demonstrated the rate of preoperative anemia in Singapore General Hospital (SGH) to be at 26.6%. The rate is highest in the elderly group which stands at 49.9%. The main objective of this study is to investigate the perioperative morbidity and mortality, blood transfusion rate, healthcare outcomes and patient-centric outcomes among anemic elderly patients undergoing major surgery. The investigators hypothesize that elderly patients who undergoes major abdominal surgery with preoperative anemia will have higher composite morbidity and mortality rates (primary outcome), longer length of hospital stay, higher blood transfusion requirements and lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) at 1, 3 and 6 months (secondary outcomes) when compared to elderly patients without preoperative anemia. The investigators will conduct a prospective observational study of 450 consecutive patients above 65 years, who are undergoing elective major open abdominal surgery in SGH over 12 months. Baseline clinical assessment, including iron studies for anemic patients, will be done within 14 days prior to surgery. To determine the primary outcome, patients will be followed up prospectively for 30 days from the day of surgery. This will be done via a mixture of medical records review and phone interview. For secondary outcomes, the length of hospital stay and readmissions for any reason within 3 and 6 months will be recorded. HRQoL questionnaires will be done through phone calls by a study team member. Findings from this study will hopefully fill the knowledge gaps such as how anemia impacts elderly people in terms of perioperative morbidity, mortality, postsurgical quality of life and their eventual return to the community as well as providing local data on the healthcare resource utilisation in this group.