Abstract: Objective: To identify the developmental trajectories of frailty in elderly postoperative colorectal cancer patients and analyze the influencing factors, aiming to provide a basis for the development of interventions. Methods: Convenience sampling was employed to select 268 elderly colorectal cancer patients undergoing radical resection surgery at a tertiary grade A hospital's gastrointestinal surgery department in Sichuan province from February to July, 2024. Patients' frailty level were assessed at 1 day before discharge, 1 month post-surgery, 3 months post-surgery, and 6 months post-surgery, respectively. The Latent Class Growth Model was constructed to identify the trajectory categories, with unordered multinomial Logistic regression analysis used to examine the influencing factors. Results: A total of 231 elderly patients with colorectal cancer completed four surveys. Three distinct progression trajectories were identified: "high-level slow ascent group" (22.1%), "moderate-level fluctuation group" (61.0%), and "low-level sustained ascent group" (16.9%). Regression analysis results revealed that age, gender, marital status, hospitalization costs, primary tumor stage, stoma, self-reported aging scores, and nutritional risk screening scores were significant predictors of frailty trajectories (P<0.05). Conclusion: Three distinct frailty trajectories exist in elderly postoperative colorectal cancer patients. Medical professionals are supposed to utilize these influencing factors to guide precision intervention strategies for frailty management.

Key words: colorectal cancer; elderly; frailty; influencing factor; Latent Class Growth Model