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  • Title: [Quality of life in elderly cancer patients--need for and benefit of inpatient rehabilitation].
    Author: Singer S, Schulte T.
    Journal: Dtsch Med Wochenschr; 2009 Jan; 134(4):121-6. PubMed ID: 19148853.
    Abstract:
    BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Elderly cancer patients are often excluded from research studies and in turn do not end up receiving treatment according to standard guidelines. While frequent co-morbidity or non-compliance of the patients provides a partial explanation for this the chronological age of the patients also plays a significant role. This presents the question of whether elderly patients have either less or no need for comprehensive treatment such as, for instance, oncological inpatient rehabilitation, and/or whether or not they are able to benefit from it. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a rehabilitation centre in Germany, 339 tumour patients (> or = 70 years) were assessed at the beginning of inpatient rehabilitation regarding quality of life via the EORTC QLQ-C30. Need for rehabilitation was defined as being a clinically relevant difference on the EORTC scales (> or = 10 points) as compared with an age-matched sample of the German general population (n = 276). Four months after completing inpatient rehabilitation patients were asked to fill in the questionnaire again. RESULTS: On 13 out of 15 EORTC scales, patients reported having more problems than the general population (adjusted for age and sex), whereby 8 domains were also clinically relevant (physical, emotional, social and role functioning, global quality of life, fatigue, appetite loss, constipation and diarrhoea). Low quality of life was associated with higher age (> or = 80 years), as well as gastro-intestinal and urological tumours (not prostate cancer). Significant improvements were achieved in 13 domains and clinically relevant improvements in 8 (physical, emotional, social and role functioning, global quality of life, fatigue, appetite loss, and pain), adjusted for age, sex, and tumour site. CONCLUSIONS: Tumour patients should not be excluded from rehabilitation only because of their chronological age.
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