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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Geriatric evaluation and management units in the care of the frail elderly cancer patient | | Author(s) | Arati V Rao, Frank Hsieh, John R Feussner |
| Journal title | Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, vol 60A, no 6, June 2005 |
| Pages | pp 798-803 |
| Source | http://www.geron.org |
| Keywords | Cancer ; Medical care ; Geriatric out-patients clinics ; Longitudinal surveys ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Geriatric assessment has been suggested as a possibly useful approach to dealing with frail older patients. In this analysis, 99 frail patients aged 65+ with a diagnosis of cancer (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers) who had been admitted to hospital, were randomised to receive care in a geriatric inpatient unit, a geriatric outpatient unit, both, or neither, after stabilisation of their acute illness. The interventions involved teams that provided geriatric assessment and patient management. Outcomes collected at discharge, 6 months and 1 year after randomisation were survival, changes in health-related quality of life (using the 36-item Short Form General Health Survey, SF-36), activities of daily living (ADLs), physical performance, health service use, and costs. There was no effect on mortality (1-year survival 59.6%). Changes in the SF-36 scores from randomisation for emotional limitation, mental health and bodily pain (also sustained at 1 year) were better for geriatric care inpatients cancer patients at discharge. There was no difference in the SF-36 scores between geriatric outpatient and usual outpatient care. Days in hospital and overall costs were equivalent for the interventions and usual care over the 1- year study. This study suggests that inpatient geriatric assessment and management may be an effective approach to the management of pain and psychological status in the older cancer inpatient at no greater length of hospital stay of extra cost than usual care. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-051103210 A |
| Classmark | CK: LK: L6G: 3J: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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