An older adult gardening, symbolizing independence and vitality after surgery.

Beyond Lifespan: Why Functionality is the Key to Healthy Aging After Surgery

Reese Marlowe in Health & Wellness June 2025 • 4 min read.

"Discover how prioritizing functional outcomes can transform surgical care for older adults, enhancing their healthspan and quality of life."

As we age, the focus often shifts from simply living longer to living healthier and more independently. This concept, known as 'healthspan,' emphasizes the quality of life and functional ability during our later years. In surgical care, this means considering not just survival rates but also how well older adults can maintain their daily activities and overall well-being after a procedure.

Traditionally, surgical quality has been measured by factors like 30-day morbidity (postoperative complications) and mortality rates. While these metrics are undoubtedly important, they don't fully capture what matters most to older patients. For many seniors, maintaining independence, managing symptoms, and minimizing pain are far more critical than avoiding a specific medical complication.

A recent article by Stabenau et al. highlights the importance of postoperative function in older adults. By quantifying how an older adult's function changes over the first year after surgery, this research provides valuable insights for surgeons and patients alike. This information enables more informed decisions about whether to proceed with an operation, based on what the patient truly values.

Why Function Matters More Than Just Survival

An older adult gardening, symbolizing independence and vitality after surgery.

For older adults, the ability to perform everyday tasks is essential for maintaining their independence and quality of life. Patient-centered outcomes, such as the ability to live at home and avoid institutionalization, are increasingly recognized as critical measures of surgical success. These outcomes reflect the consequences of healthcare decisions that matter most to patients.

While traditional measures like avoiding urinary tract infections are still important, older adults often prioritize maintaining their ability to live independently. This shift in focus requires a more comprehensive approach to surgical care that considers both medical outcomes and functional well-being.

Maintaining Independence: Ensuring older adults can continue to live at home and manage daily tasks.
Symptom Management: Alleviating pain and discomfort to improve overall well-being.
Functional Ability: Preserving the ability to perform activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, and eating.

Function as an outcome measure is emerging as the leading candidate to best quantify patient-centered postoperative outcomes for older adults. Unlike generic health assessment surveys, function provides a tangible and meaningful variable. It directly reflects a patient's ability to maintain their lifestyle and avoid the need for institutional care.

Making Informed Decisions About Surgery

As data on postoperative functional trajectories for older adults become more solid, it's critical to integrate discussions about potential functional decline into the preoperative consent process. Meaningful informed consent should move beyond standard risk discussions (cardiac/renal dysfunction) to include the risk of losing the ability to return home and facing prolonged functional dependence. Armed with this information, older adults can make more informed decisions about their surgical care.

About this Article -

This article was crafted using a human-AI hybrid and collaborative approach. AI assisted our team with initial drafting, research insights, identifying key questions, and image generation. Our human editors guided topic selection, defined the angle, structured the content, ensured factual accuracy and relevance, refined the tone, and conducted thorough editing to deliver helpful, high-quality information.See our About page for more information.

This article is based on research published under:

DOI-LINK: 10.1097/sla.0000000000002866, Alternate LINK

Title: Function: An Essential Postoperative Outcome For Older Adults

Subject: Surgery

Journal: Annals of Surgery

Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)

Authors: Thomas N. Robinson

Published: 2018-12-01

Everything You Need To Know

What is Healthspan and why is it important in the context of surgical care?

Healthspan is a concept that emphasizes the quality of life and functional ability during our later years. It's about living healthier and more independently, not just living longer. In surgical care, Healthspan means ensuring older adults can maintain their daily activities and overall well-being after a procedure. Its implications are significant because it shifts the focus from mere survival to prioritizing the ability to live at home, manage symptoms, and maintain functional ability.

Why is function considered a key outcome measure for older adults after surgery?

Function is considered as the leading candidate to best quantify patient-centered postoperative outcomes for older adults. It is a tangible measure that reflects a patient's ability to maintain their lifestyle and avoid the need for institutional care. Unlike generic health assessment surveys, it provides a direct and meaningful variable for evaluating surgical success. Function emphasizes the ability to perform activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, and eating. Prioritizing function has implications for surgical care by focusing on outcomes that matter most to older patients, such as maintaining independence and managing symptoms.

Why is the ability to perform everyday tasks so important for older adults?

The ability to perform everyday tasks is essential for maintaining independence and quality of life for older adults. These patient-centered outcomes reflect the consequences of healthcare decisions that matter most to patients. Factors like maintaining independence, symptom management, and functional ability are critical measures of surgical success. This shift in focus requires a more comprehensive approach to surgical care. Implications of not prioritizing these factors could lead to institutionalization or a diminished quality of life post-surgery.

What are patient-centered outcomes, and why are they important?

Patient-centered outcomes are increasingly recognized as critical measures of surgical success. These outcomes reflect the consequences of healthcare decisions that matter most to patients, such as the ability to live at home and avoid institutionalization. Traditional measures like 30-day morbidity and mortality rates are important, but they don't fully capture what matters most to older patients. Patient-centered outcomes, such as the ability to live at home and avoid institutionalization, are increasingly recognized as critical measures of surgical success. The implications are that healthcare providers should focus on the aspects that patients value.

How should informed consent be improved for older adults considering surgery?

Informed consent should move beyond standard risk discussions to include the risk of losing the ability to return home and facing prolonged functional dependence. It should include data on postoperative functional trajectories so older adults can make informed decisions. Preoperative discussions should now include potential functional decline. It's about making sure the older adults are fully aware of the potential impact of surgery on their ability to live independently. The implications of this approach are that older adults can make more informed decisions about their surgical care, considering not just the risks of the surgery but also the potential impact on their quality of life and ability to perform daily activities.