Preoperative Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)-Physical Function and Perioperative Complication in Major Abdominal Colorectal Operations

Background: Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) physical function (PF) is a validated tool for capturing a patient's perception of their physical capacity. The goal of this study was to determine whether preoperative PF correlates with a risk of postoperative complications. Study Design: Patients from a single-institution American College of Surgeons NSQIP database undergoing elective colorectal abdominal operations from January 2018 to June 2019 with a preoperative PROMIS-PF T-score were eligible for this retrospective study. Patients were divided into moderate to severe (score <40) and minimal to mild (score ≥40) physical disability cohorts. Primary outcomes were any complication and any Clavien-Dindo grade III or higher complication. Multivariate logistic regression was performed. Results: In total, 249 patients were included: 78 (31%) with self-scored moderate to severe disability and 171 (69%) with minimal to mild disability. Patients who scored as moderate to severe disability had a higher frequency of comorbidities and an open operative approach compared with patients with minimal to mild disability. These patients then had higher rates of any complication (37.2% vs 19.9%; p = 0.0036) and Clavien-Dindo grade III or higher complications (14.1% vs 7.6%; p = 0.017). After adjusting for patient factors, surgical procedure, and approach, patients scoring as moderate to severe disability were 2.00 times more likely (95% CI, 1.05 to 3.84; p = 0.036) to have any complication and 2.76 times more likely (95% CI, 1.07 to 7.14; p = 0.036) to have a Clavien-Dindo grade III or higher complication. Conclusions: Moderate to severe PF disability score is associated with increased risk of postoperative complications among patients undergoing colorectal operations. PROMIS-PF T-score can be a useful tool to identify patients who would benefit from targeted preoperative interventions, such as patient education, nutritional optimization, and prehabilitation.