The effect of the anticholinergic burden on mortality following elective cardiac surgery.

The cumulative effect of drugs with anticholinergic properties may pose a significant risk in the post-discharge period of patients who have undergone elective cardiac surgery. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between anticholinergic burden and 6-month postdischarge mortality in older cardiac surgery patients. This study performed a retrospective longitudinal analysis of patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery at a tertiary care centre from January 2021 to January 2022. The Deyo-Charlson comorbidity index (D-CCI) was used to estimate the burden of comorbidities. The anticholinergic burden was assessed using the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden scale (ACB) and Drug Burden Index (DBI) scale. All-cause postdischarge mortality was determined from electronic medical records. A total of 255 older adults who had undergone elective cardiac surgery and had been followed up for at least 6 months were included in this study. Approximately 12.5% ( The anticholinergic burden is associated with 6-month all-cause post-discharge mortality in older cardiac surgery patients. A deprescribing approach should be considered, especially for older adults in the perioperative period. The trial was retrospectively registered at ClinicalTrials.gov. Identifier: NCT05312684 Registered on 5 April 2022.