Variability in clinicians’ understanding and reported methods of identifying high-risk surgical patients: a qualitative study

Table 5 Patient characteristics associated with high risk reported by participants

Patient characteristic indicating frailty	Number of participants reporting (N = 13)	Examples
Number of comorbidities	7	Multi-system disease, 2–3 comorbidities, number of cardiac problems
Type of comorbidity	6	COPD, cardiac problems, hypertension, diabetes
Patient history	4	Previous heart attacks, multiple surgeries
Frailty	4	Frail, weight loss, fatigue, level of function, frequent falls, frequent infections
Poor mobility	3	Use of walking frame, use of wheelchair
Age	3^a	Ageing population, elderly
Obesity	2	Obese patients, morbidly obese
Terminal illness	1	Terminal multi-organ failure

^aAn additional 3 participants stated that age was not necessarily an indicator of risk

ISSN: 1472-6963