Copyright
©The Author(s) 2020.
World J Clin Oncol. Mar 24, 2020; 11(3): 152-161
Published online Mar 24, 2020. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v11.i3.152
Published online Mar 24, 2020. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v11.i3.152
Table 1 Background of respondents
| Specialty | n (%) |
| Clinical oncology | 135 (21.3) |
| Medical oncology | 164 (25.8) |
| Cancer services/oncology other | 93 (14.6) |
| Acute oncology | 30 (4.7) |
| Haem-oncology | 54 (8.5) |
| Surgery | 49 (7.7) |
| Geriatrics/elderly care | 61 (9.6) |
| Palliative care | 23 (3.6) |
| Other | 26 (4.1) |
| Discipline | |
| Doctor | 332 (52.0) |
| Nurse | 251 (39.3) |
| Physiotherapist/occupational therapist | 34 (5.3) |
| Other | 21 (3.3) |
| Tumour group | |
| All | 241 (37.7) |
| Tumour specific | 350 (54.7) |
| Not applicable | 36 (5.6) |
Table 2 Health professionals involved in the assessment of older people presenting to cancer service (%)
| Health professional | Always | Often | Sometimes | Rarely | Never | Don't know |
| Oncologist | 51.4 (298/580) | 36.9 (214/580) | 7.1 (41/580) | 2.2 (13/580) | 1.6 (9/580) | 0.1 (5/580) |
| Surgeon | 19.4 (106/545) | 34.1 (186/545) | 34.3 (187/545) | 5.1 (28/545) | 3.5 (19/545) | 3.5 (19/545) |
| Geriatrician | 4.7 (25/531) | 9.4 (50/531) | 24.7 (131/531) | 32.6 (173/531) | 21.1 (112/531) | 7.5 (40/531) |
| Nurse | 59.3 (343/578) | 30.1 (174/578) | 5.9 (34/578) | 1.4 (8/578) | 1.4 (8/578) | 1.9 (11/578) |
| Physiotherapist | 7.6 (42/556) | 28.2 (157/556) | 36.3 (202/556) | 15.8 (88/556) | 5.8 (32/556) | 6.3 (35//556) |
| Occupational therapist | 6.1 (34/553) | 28.9 (160/553) | 33.5 (185/553) | 19.0 (105/553) | 6.1 (34/553) | 6.3 (35/553) |
| Dietician | 4.7 (26/554) | 29.1 (161/554) | 42.1 (233/554) | 13.4 (74/554) | 5.6 (31/554) | 5.2 (29/554) |
| Social worker | 2.9 (16/550) | 19.1 (105/550) | 41.6 (229/550) | 19.8 (109/550) | 8.9 (49/550) | 7.6 (42/550) |
| Pharmacist | 23.8 (131/550) | 24.4 (134/550) | 19.6 (108/550) | 17.1 (94/550) | 9.6 (53/550) | 5.5 (30/550) |
| General practitioner | 26.6 (143/538) | 25.5 (137/538) | 18.8 (101/538) | 11.3 (61/538) | 7.8 (42/538) | 10.0 (54/538) |
Table 3 Assessment methods currently used (%)
| Used | Not used | Don't know | |
| Assessment method | |||
| Clinical history | 98.5 (572/581) | 1.0 (6/581) | 0.5 (3/581) |
| Performance status | 90.2 (513/569) | 7.7 (44/569) | 2.1 (12/569) |
| Scores | 33.8 (179/529) | 53.1 (281/529) | 13.0 (69/529) |
| Local methods | 13.7 (64/467) | 69.0 (322/467) | 17.3 (81/467) |
| Structured assessment and/or assessment tool used to assess | |||
| Comorbidity | 62.2 (345/555) | 31.2 (173/555) | 6.7 (37/555) |
| Medications | 60.1 (333/554) | 33.2 (184/554) | 6.7 (37/554) |
| Frailty | 46.8 (257/549) | 44.3 (243/549) | 8.9 (49/549) |
| Mobility | 61.1 (337/552) | 34.2 (189/552) | 4.7 (26/552) |
| Falls | 51.9 (285/549) | 42.8 (235/549) | 5.3 (29/549) |
| Function | 65.0 (358/551) | 30.5 (168/551) | 4.5 (25/551) |
| Nutrition | 58.5 (321/549) | 35.2 (193/549) | 6.4 (35/549) |
| Quality of life | 52.8 (290/549) | 40.1 (220/549) | 7.1 (39/549) |
| Cognition | 60.5 (329/544) | 31.8 (173/544) | 7.7 (42/544) |
| Mood | 46.9 (254/542) | 43.0 (233/542) | 10.1 (55/542) |
| Social circumstances | 57.2 (313/547) | 36.2 (198/547) | 6.6 (36/547) |
Table 4 Specific tools used or would consider to use, % (n)
| Used | Would consider to use but currently do not use | |
| ASA score | 10.5 (67) | 3.9 (25) |
| POSSUM score | 5.9 (38) | 4.7 (30) |
| G8 score | 1.7 (11) | 9.2 (59) |
| VES13 | 0.6 (4) | 5.2 (33) |
| ACE27 | 4.8 (31) | 8.1 (52) |
| CCI | 6.7 (43) | 12.8 (82) |
| Number of comorbidities | 19.4 (124) | |
| Barthel’s index of ADLs | 15.0 (96) | 12.0 (77) |
| iADLs | 15.2 (97) | 8.6 (55) |
| AMT score | 27.3 (175) | 6.1 (39) |
| MMSE | 36.7 (235) | 7.7 (49) |
| MoCA | 7.5 (48) | 3.9 (25) |
| GDS | 6.9 (44) | 13.6 (87) |
| HADS | 20.2 (129) | 8.9 (57) |
| PHQ9 | 2.5 (16) | 9.1 (58) |
| MUST | 32.8 (210) | 8.3 (53) |
| BMI | 56.1 (359) | 5.8 (37) |
| EFS | 3.8 (24) | 13.1 (84) |
| GFI | 0.0 (1) | 8.4 (54) |
| Rockwood pictorial frailty scale | 1.4 (9) | 8.8 (56) |
| HNA | 44.8 (287) | 11.3 (72) |
| EORTC QLQ-C30 | 9.8 (63) | 11.4 (73) |
| CGA-GOLD questionnaire | Not asked as not well known | 8.1 (52) |
Table 5 Multi-disciplinary access (%)
| Health professional | Urgent access | Routine access | No access | Don't know |
| Geriatrician | 24.8 (118/475) | 48.0 (228/475) | 19.4 (92/475) | 7.8 (37/475) |
| Medical physician | 41.3 (191/462) | 37.2 (172/462) | 16.2 (75/462) | 5.2 (24/462) |
| Single organ specialists | 43.6 (203/466) | 44.2 (206/466) | 7.5 (35/466) | 4.7 (22/466) |
| General practitioners | 39.9 (188/471) | 49.5 (233/471) | 7.2 (34/471) | 3.4 (16/471) |
| Physiotherapists | 42.9 (204/476) | 47.1 (224/476) | 5.9 (28/476) | 4.2 (20/476) |
| Occupational therapists | 37.2 (178/479) | 52.0 (249/479) | 6.1 (29/479) | 4.8 (23/479) |
| Dietician | 38.9 (186/478) | 54.0 (258/478) | 4.2 (20/478) | 2.9 (14/478) |
| Social workers | 24.7 (116/470) | 58.9 (277/470) | 9.8 (46/470) | 6.6 (31/470) |
| Psychological | 26.5 (126/475) | 56.8 (270/475) | 11.8 (56/475) | 4.9 (23/475) |
| Older peoples nurse | 17.3 (82/473) | 31.3 (148/473) | 33.6 (159/473) | 17.8 (84/473) |
| Psychiatry | 16.5 (78/473) | 47.1 (223/473) | 21.8 (103/473) | 14.6 (69/473) |
| Palliative care | 78.7 (377/479) | 19.2 (92/479) | 0.6 (3/479) | 1.5 (7/479) |
- Citation: Kalsi T, Harari D. Assessment methods and services for older people with cancer in the United Kingdom. World J Clin Oncol 2020; 11(3): 152-161
- URL: https://www.wjgnet.com/2218-4333/full/v11/i3/152.htm
- DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.5306/wjco.v11.i3.152