Preoperative Risk Assessment in the Elderly

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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PrepTAB aims to determine whether elderly patients are able to complete 4 preoperative risk assessment questionnaires within a web-based survey.

Detailed Description
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Elderly patients are the most rapidly increasing group among surgical admissions. They are prone to a higher risk, because of predisposing risk factors. A comprehensive preoperative risk assessment is recommended by the European Society of Anaesthesiologists guideline, but time-consuming and usually not performed at present. A telemedical approach would enable an out-of hospital risk assessment before hospital admission and provide important information without the need for additional in-hospital resources. The feasibility of the completion of a web-based questionnaire by elderly patients, within a controlled in-hospital setting is required, as a base for a telemedical approach.

Official Title
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Web-based Preoperative Risk Assessment in the Elderly: a Pilot-study

Conditions
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Preoperative Risk Assessment

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: web-based questionnaires


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Legally competent patients Written informed consent Age ≥ 65, male, female, diverse Multimorbid patients (≥ 2 comorbidities (according to the Charlson Comorbidity Index) Major elective surgery (such as total abdominal hysterectomy, endoscopic resection of prostate, lumbar discectomy, thyroidectomy, total joint replacement, lung operations, colon resection, radical neck dissection etc.) Exclusion Criteria: Blind or deaf patients Patient/ Proxy not able to use electronic devices e.g. computer, tablet or smart phone Non-fluency in local language Alcohol and/ or drugs abuse Ambulatory surgery Repeated surgery, with previous participation Patients with severe neurological or psychiatric disorder Refusal of study participation by the patient

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 65 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Elderly patient<br>Preoperative elderly patients, who are planned for a surgical intervention | Other: web-based questionnaires<br>* Patients will be asked to complete web-based questionnaires on a tablet computer<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Completion rate | The completion rate of the total number of questions of the web-based questionnaires | 1 day | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Frequency of patient's requests for help to the accompanying next of kin | The study team member, who is present during the study treatment, will assess the frequency of the patient's requests for help to the accompanying next of kin | 1 day | 
| Assessment of the kind of patient's requests for help to the accompanying next of kin | The study team member, who is present during the study treatment, will assess the kind of the patient's requests for help to the accompanying next of kin, divided into: technical request or request regarding the content of the web-based questions | 1 day | 
| Assessment of the kind of patient's requests for help to the study team member | The study team member, who is present during the study treatment, will assess the kind of the patient's requests for help to himself, divided into: technical request or request regarding the content of the web-based questions | 1 day | 
| Frequency of patient's requests for help to the study team member | The study team member, who is present during the study treatment, will assess the frequency of the patient's requests for help to him | 1 day | 
| Elapsed time for questionnaire completion | The survey software will automatically count the elapsed time for completion of the questionnaires. The time will start in the moment, when the patient accesses the website and it will end when he presses the finish button | 1 day | 
| Ranking of unanswered questions | We will analyse which questions where not answered by the most patients. | 1 day | 
| Patient satisfaction | Analysis of patient satisfaction about the web-based questionnaires. A paper-based satisfaction questionnaire is provided to the patient after the completion of the web-based survey. The satisfaction questionnaire will consist of a 5-point Likert scale. It will consist of the items: Strongly disagree; Disagree; Neither agree nor disagree; Agree; Strongly agree | 1 day | 
| Frequency of technical problems | The frequency of technical problems (i.e. internet connection, black screen etc.) will be assessed by the present study team member | 1 day | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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elderly, surgery, preoperative risk