Social and environmental factors may influence fitness ahead of surgery reveals research led by Lancaster University.

The study was led by PhD researcher Dr Donna Shrestha from Lancaster Medical School, where her research focuses on health inequalities in the surgical patient pathway. She is also a senior resident doctor with a specialist interest in colorectal surgery.

The research published in PLOS ONE suggests that patients from more socioeconomically deprived areas may have lower cardiorespiratory fitness at the time of preoperative assessment.

According to a study by Karolinska Institutet, nearly three times as many people under the age of 50 in Sweden are diagnosed with colorectal cancer today compared with the early 1990s. The study also shows that mortality is elevated in both younger and older patients for up to ten years after diagnosis.