Improving Surgical Safety of Seniors Through Preoperative Cognitive Screening

The hypothesis is that structured preoperative cognitive screening of seniors is feasible without specialized staff and can help preoperatively identify persons at high risk of complications. To demonstrate generalizability of the single center experience, and strengthen the case for routine preoperative cognitive screening of seniors, the aims of this proposal are to implement preoperative cognitive screening of seniors in the preoperative clinics of a community hospital (NWH) and a 2nd tertiary care institution (MGH); and determine whether impairment is an independent predictor of adverse perioperative events.