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- Title
Assessment of quality-of-life and functional outcomes in elderly cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy using the european organization for research and treatment of cancer quality-of-life questionnaire.
- Authors
Kitsou, K. S.; Bakola, M.; Kardamakis, D.; Gourzis, P.; Jelastopulu, E.
- Abstract
Introduction: Radiation treatment plays a vital role in curative and palliative cancer therapy. In elderly cancer patients (ECPs) who may have compromised organ function and/or co-morbidities, the measurement of quality of life (QoL) is increasingly being recognized as an important patient-reported outcome to determine the burden of cancer treatment in this population. Objectives: To investigate the effect of radiotherapy on QoL, functional outcomes of ECPs and identify the risk factors for low QoL. Methods: Cross sectional study was performed on consecutively recruited patients from the Department of Radiation Oncology. The EORTC QLQ-C30 was administered to patients ≥65 years undergoing radiotherapy. It consists of 30 single questions, comprising five functioning scales (physical, role, cognitive, emotional, social), nine symptom items and a global quality of life scale. Results: A total of 48 patients answered the questionnaire, 65.1% males, mean age 73 years. Global health status/QoL score was 79.7%. Regarding the functional scales, lower scores were observed in physical (56%), social (58.3%), emotional (60.7%), and role functioning (61.5%), whereas cognitive functioning (71.5%) revealed higher score. Females had higher score in social functioning (63.2% vs 55.6%, p<0.05) and patients ≥75 years old scored in all functional scales lower compared to 65-75 years old patients (p<0.05). Conclusions: All functioning scales of EORTC QLQ-C30 had scores above 50, suggesting thus, that radiotherapy may not have detrimental effects on QoL in most ECPs with solid tumors. However, measuring QoL in this population group is important for clinical decision-making and the evaluation of treatment outcomes.
- Subjects
CANCER radiotherapy; CANCER prognosis; RADIOTHERAPY; FUNCTIONAL status; CANCER treatment; ORGANIZATIONAL research; OLDER patients
- Publication
European Psychiatry, 2020, Vol 63, pS447
- ISSN
0924-9338
- Publication type
Article