Perioperative medicine & outcomes
Body Mass Index and Postsurgical Outcomes in Older Adults
An erratum to this article was published (JAMA Netw Open, 1 Oct 2025 ↗)
Authors' conclusion
In this observational cohort study of older adults undergoing major elective surgery, being overweight was associated with lower odds of 30-day all-cause mortality.
Study context
- Population
- Adults aged 65 years or older presenting to a preoperative clinic before planned major elective surgery, large academic center in Southern California, February 2019 to January 2022
- Participants
- 414 adults
- Exposure
- Body mass index (BMI) categories: overweight and underweight vs normal BMI
- Normal BMIn = 133reference
- Overweightn = 128
- Underweightn = 20
- Outcome
- All-cause mortality
- Follow-up
- 30 days
Methodological detailssingle-centre
- Single-centre
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
30-day all-cause mortality
Overweight vs Normal BMIOdds ratio (95% CI)P value
Unadjusted
0.03(0.01–0.26)
P = 0.001Multivariable logistic regression, adjusted for potential confounders
0.14(0.06–0.34)
P < 0.001- Overall 30-day all-cause mortality rate
- 11.0%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Body Mass Index and Postsurgical Outcomes in Older Adults. JAMA Netw Open. Published 1 August 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →