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Co-morbidity and functional deficits independently contribute to quality of life before chemotherapy in elderly cancer patients

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Abstract

Goal of the work

The quality of life (QoL) of patients with cancer is a major area of concern for both patients and their physicians. The independent contribution of functional impairment and co-morbidity to QoL is unclear.

Materials and methods

We investigated initial global QoL in 477 patients: 195 cancer patients aged 60 years or older (group A), 152 cancer patients below the age of 60 years (group B), admitted as inpatients for chemotherapy initiation and 130 patients aged 60 years or older admitted for non-cancer-related disorders (group C). Global QoL was assessed by the EORTC-QLQ-C30 subscale, functional status by the Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) and the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scale, and co-morbidity by the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS).

Results

In multivariate analyses, global QoL is significantly associated with KPS, IADL and co-morbidity in group A (r 2 = 0.27), with KPS and IADL in group B (r 2 = 0.23), and with age, KPS and IADL in group C (r 2 = 0.38).

Conclusions

IADL contributes to global QoL in addition to the known effect of KPS. In addition, co-morbidity independently influences global QoL in elderly cancer patients.

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Acknowledgement

The study was supported by German Cancer Aid (Grant No. 70-2445-Hö-3). Ulrich Wedding is currently a research fellow of the “Forschungskolleg Geriatrie” of the Robert Bosch Foundation, Stuttgart.

Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors has to indicate a potential source of conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Internal Medicine Clinic II, Department of Haematology and Medical Oncology, Friedrich Schiller University, Erlanger Allee 101, 07747, Jena, Germany

    Ulrich Wedding, Bernd Röhrig, Almuth Klippstein & Klaus Höffken

  2. Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics (IMBEI), Clinic of Johannes Gutenberg University, Zahlbacher Straße 69, 55101, Mainz, Germany

    Bernd Röhrig

  3. Institute of Medical Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University, Stoystrasse 3, 07743, Jena, Germany

    Christina Brix

  4. Gerontology Clinic, Marienhospital Herne, Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany

    Ulrich Wedding

  5. Gerontology Clinic, Marienhospital Herne, Ruhr-University, Widumer Straβe 8, 44627, Herne, Germany

    Ludger Pientka

Authors
  1. Ulrich Wedding
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  2. Bernd Röhrig
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  3. Almuth Klippstein
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  4. Christina Brix
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  5. Ludger Pientka
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  6. Klaus Höffken
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Correspondence to Ulrich Wedding.

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Wedding, U., Röhrig, B., Klippstein, A. et al. Co-morbidity and functional deficits independently contribute to quality of life before chemotherapy in elderly cancer patients. Support Care Cancer 15, 1097–1104 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-007-0228-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-007-0228-9

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