Geriatric assessment for older people with cancer: policy recommendations.
Glob Health Res Policy
; 8(1): 37, 2023 09 01.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37653521
ABSTRACT
Most cancers occur in older people and the burden in this age group is increasing. Over the past two decades the evidence on how best to treat this population has increased rapidly. However, implementation of new best practices has been slow and needs involvement of policymakers. This perspective paper explains why older people with cancer have different needs than the wider population. An overview is given of the recommended approach for older people with cancer and its benefits on clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness. In older patients, the geriatric assessment (GA) is the gold standard to measure level of fitness and to determine treatment tolerability. The GA, with multiple domains of physical health, functional status, psychological health and socio-environmental factors, prevents initiation of inappropriate oncologic treatment and recommends geriatric interventions to optimize the patient's general health and thus resilience for receiving treatments. Multiple studies have proven its benefits such as reduced toxicity, better quality of life, better patient-centred communication and lower healthcare use. Although GA might require investment of time and resources, this is relatively small compared to the improved outcomes, possible cost-savings and compared to the large cost of oncologic treatments as a whole.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Evaluación Geriátrica
/
Neoplasias
Tipo de estudio:
Guideline
/
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Aged
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Glob Health Res Policy
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Países Bajos