The European Research Journal · Jun 12, 2026
Investigation of the Relationship Between Frailty and Sleep Quality in Postoperative Elderly Patients: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study
By Demir E, Öztaş İ, Yava A et al.
Objective: With the aging population, the number of elderly patients undergoing surgical procedures is increasing. Frailty and sleep disturbances are 2 critical phenomena that directly affect postoperative recovery outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between frailty levels and sleep quality in elderly patients hospitalized after surgery. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted between January and May 2023 with 94 elderly postoperative patients in the orthopedics and abdominal surgery wards of a training and research hospital. Data were collected using a sociodemographic information form, the Edmonton Frailty Scale, and the Richards–Campbell Sleep Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis were used for data analysis. Results: The mean (SD) age of participants was 71.98 (5.38) years, and 52.1% were female. The majority of patients (89.4%) experienced sleep disturbances during hospitalization. Participants were classified as severely frail (26.6%), mildly frail (22.3%), and moderately frail (20.2%). The mean (SD) frailty score was 8.22 (3.16) and the mean (SD) sleep quality score was 245.38 (103.82). A negative, very weak, and statistically non-significant correlation was found between frailty level and sleep quality (r = −0.084; P = .34). Conclusions: Both frailty and sleep disturbances were found to be common among surgical elderly patients. The high proportion of participants in the moderate-to-severe frailty categories, combined with widespread sleep impairment during hospitalization, underscores the necessity of geriatric-sensitive approaches in surgical care. Although no statistically significant association was identified between frailty and sleep quality, factors such as pain and psychological stress were determined to negatively affect sleep quality in this population.