Function in Elderly Cancer Survivors Depends on Comorbidities

Background. Factors associated with functional status in elderly cancer survivors, in particular, comorbidity, have been inadequately studied. Methods. Of 4162 participants aged 65 and older enrolled in the Duke Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly study in 1986, 376 of t...

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Published in:The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2003-12, Vol.58 (12), p.M1119-M1124
Main Authors: Garman, Katherine S., Pieper, Carl F., Seo, Pearl, Cohen, Harvey Jay
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Distribution
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Cancer
Cause of Death
Chronic Disease - epidemiology
Cohort Studies
Comorbidity
Female
Geriatric Assessment
Humans
Male
Morbidity
Multivariate Analysis
Neoplasm Staging
Neoplasms - epidemiology
Neoplasms - pathology
Older people
Probability
Prognosis
Registries
Risk Assessment
Sex Distribution
Sickness Impact Profile
Survivors
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Summary:Background. Factors associated with functional status in elderly cancer survivors, in particular, comorbidity, have been inadequately studied. Methods. Of 4162 participants aged 65 and older enrolled in the Duke Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly study in 1986, 376 of the participants self-reported a diagnosis of cancer. Participants were divided into 2 comorbidity groups and 4 cancer groups. Cancer groups included 132 participants diagnosed 0–4 years ago, 117 diagnosed 5–15 years ago, 127 diagnosed >15 years ago, and 3784 participants who had never been diagnosed with cancer. Comorbidity (self-reported stroke, diabetes, hypertension, and myocardial infarction) was classified as presence of 1 or no comorbidities (n = 3089) or 2 or more comorbidities (n = 1073). Function was assessed by Katz Activities of Daily Living, Rosow-Breslau, Nagi, and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living scales at the time of interview. Results. In a two-way analysis of covariance model of comorbidity and cancer group controlling for age, race, sex, education, marital status, depression, and cognitive status, duration of cancer survivorship does not influence most measures of function. In the subset of 376 cancer survivors, comorbidity significantly correlates with the functional status of these older cancer survivors (
ISSN:1079-5006
1758-535X
DOI:10.1093/gerona/58.12.M1119