Associations of frailty with symptoms, and HRQOL in older cancer survivors after cancer treatments: a systematic review and meta-analyses
Purpose Frailty in older adult cancer survivors after cancer treatments is associated with various health outcomes. However, there is less agreement on how frailty affects symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the current lite...
Saved in:
Published in | Quality of life research Vol. 33; no. 3; pp. 583 - 598 |
---|---|
Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Cham
Springer International Publishing
01.03.2024
Springer Nature B.V |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | Purpose
Frailty in older adult cancer survivors after cancer treatments is associated with various health outcomes. However, there is less agreement on how frailty affects symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the current literature on frailty, symptoms, and HRQOL, as well as the associations of frailty with these factors in older adult cancer survivors with chemotherapy.
Methods
A review was conducted on peer-reviewed publications from 2008 to 2023, using seven electronic databases. Meta-analyses were performed using random effects models to determine pooled effect estimates for frailty prevalence, symptom severity, and HRQOL scores.
Results
A total of 26 studies involving older cancer survivors were included in the analysis. Most of these studies were conducted in Western countries and focused on White survivors, particularly those with breast cancer. The mean pooled prevalence of frailty was 43.5%. Among frail survivors, the most common symptoms reported after cancer treatments were pain (36.4%), neuropathy (34.1%), and fatigue (21.3%). Frailty was associated with higher pooled mean symptom severity (
B
= 1.23,
p
= 0.046) and lower functional HRQOL (
B
= − 0.31,
p
= 0.051, with marginal significance) after cancer treatments.
Conclusion
Frail older cancer survivors are at high risk of adverse symptoms and poor HRQOL after cancer treatment. Further research on screening for frailty is needed to prevent older adults from developing worse symptoms burden and maintain HRQOL. It is also essential to understand the mechanisms of the associations between frailty, symptoms and HRQOL in this population. |
---|---|
Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 ObjectType-Review-4 content type line 23 ObjectType-Undefined-3 |
ISSN: | 0962-9343 1573-2649 1573-2649 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s11136-023-03537-4 |