Objective  The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of Huaxi emotional-distress index(HEI) on assessing the length of hospital stay, hospitalization costs, and patient satisfaction in elderly patients after surgery.

  Methods  The clinical data of elderly patients in the surgery database from the Department of Anesthesiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University during October 2015 and June 2018 were retrospectively collected, including gender, age, education, American Society of Anesthesiologists(ASA) classification, malignancy, the surgical department, Mini-cog score, Katz index, HEI classes(1-4), and adverse emotion, to analyze the correlation of HEI with length of hospital stay, hospitalization costs, and patient satisfaction.

  Results  A total of 565 elderly patients meeting the inclusive and exclusive criteria were enrolled in this study. There were no statistical difference in gender, age, education, ASA classification, malignancy, the surgical department, and Mini-cog score among different HEI classes and different adverse emotion groups(all P>0.05). The patients with adverse emotion had longer length of hospital stay(P=0.003) and higheraverage daily hospitalization costs(P=0.001); and the higher the HEI rating, the longer the length of hospital stay(P=0.000). HEI and adverse emotion correlated with the 7-day patient satisfaction(all P < 0.05), the patients with adverse emotion had lower 7-day patient satisfaction.

  Conclusion  HEI might predict the length of hospital stay, hospitalization costs, and patient satisfaction in elderly patients after surgery.