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Grantees in the News: Thomas Robinson and Jeremy Walston on testing frailty before surgery in NY Times

On October 27, 2017, The New York Times spotlighted Beeson Scholars Thomas Robinson, MD (2010) and Jeremy D. Walston, MD (1998) in a feature exploring how surgeons are now assessing older patients frailty to assess likelihood of recooperation and survival from procedures.

The article, “One Last Question Before the Operation: Just How Frail Are You?” notes:


But about 15 percent of the older population, excluding nursing home residents, meets the criteria for frailty, rising to more than a third of those over age 85. “There’s a much higher prevalence in the Deep South and among African Americans,” said Dr. Jeremy Walston, principal investigator at the Older Americans Independence Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Geriatricians like Dr. Walston have been publishing research on frailty for nearly 20 years, as measured by tools developed at Johns Hopkins or by a Canadian group, and variants thereof. The Hopkins approach uses tests like grip strength and walking speed; the Canadian index relies on health deficits, including chronic illnesses and dementia.

Read the full article here.


Dr. Thomas Robinson is Professor, Surgery-GI, Trauma, and Endocrine Surgery in the School of Medicine Department of Surgery at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Dr. Jeremy D. Walson is Co-Director, Biology of Healthy Aging Program, Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology and Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

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