Desire for Information in the Elderly: Interactions with Patients, Family, and Physicians

Triadic Communication in Medical Encounters Including Individuals With Dementia: A Scoping Review

PURPOSE

The overall goal of this review was to identify what is known about triadic (clinician-patient-caregiver) communication in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia care settings throughout the care continuum.

METHODS

Using a structured search, we conducted a systematic scoping review of relevant published journal articles across 5 databases. Study titles/abstracts and selected full-text articles were screened by 2 investigators in Covidence systematic review software. Articles were excluded if they were not about clinical communication, focused only on caregiver-patient communication or communication in residential care, were interventional, lacked empirical data, or were not in English. Extracted data were documented using Google Forms.

RESULTS

The study team screened 3426 article titles and abstracts and 112 full-text articles. Forty-four articles were included in the final review. Results were categorized by 3 communication scenarios: diagnostic communication (n=22), general communication (n=16), and advanced care planning communication (n=6).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Across the included articles, the conceptualization and assessment of communication lacked homogeneity. Future directions include addressing these research gaps, establishing recommendations for clinicians to effectively communicate with individuals with dementia and caregivers, and creating and testing communication skills trainings for caregivers/family members, clinicians, and/or individuals with dementia to facilitate effective communication.

Sex Differences in Characteristics and Outcomes in Elderly Heart Failure Patients With Preserved Ejection Fraction: A Post-hoc Analysis From TOPCAT

Introduction: Although the impact of sex on patient outcomes for heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) has been reported, it is still unclear whether this impact is applicable for elderly patients with HFpEF. This study was conducted as a secondary analysis from a large randomized controlled trial-The Treatment of Preserved Cardiac Function Heart Failure with an Aldosterone Antagonist Trial (TOPCAT)-to evaluate the impact of sex differences on the baseline characteristics and outcomes of HFpEF patients who were older than 70 years. Methods: Baseline characteristic of elderly patients were compared between men and women. Primary outcomes were cardiovascular (CV) mortality and HF-related hospitalization, whereas secondary outcomes were all-cause mortality and all-cause hospitalization. Cox regression models were used to determine the effect of sex differences on patient outcomes. Results: A total of 1,619 patients were included in the study: 898 (55.5%) women and 721 (44.5%) men. Age was similar between women and men. Women had fewer comorbidities but worse cardiac function than men. The rate of primary outcomes was lower in women than in men (18.4 vs. 27.5%; p < 0.001), including rate of CV mortality (8.9 vs. 14.8%; p < 0.001) and HF-related hospitalization (13.4 vs. 18.2%; p = 0.008). All-cause mortality was also lower in women than in men (15.6 vs. 25.4%; p < 0.001). After adjustment for baseline characteristics, Cox regression analysis showed that female sex was a protective factor for CV mortality [hazard ratio (HR): 0.53; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.40-0.73], HF-related hospitalization (HR: 0.71; 95% CI: 0.55-0.93), and all-cause mortality (HR: 0.59; 95% CI: 0.47-0.75). Although spironolactone significantly reduced the rate of all-cause mortality in women even after adjusting for baseline characteristics (HR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.48-0.96; p = 0.028), no significant multivariate association was noted between sex and treatment effects (p = 0.190). Conclusion: Among elderly patients with HFpEF, women had worse cardiac function but better survival and lower HF-related hospitalization rate than men. Clinical Trial Registration: NCT00094302 (TOPCAT). Registered October 15, 2004, https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00094302.

The Impact of Dementia on Cancer Treatment Decision-Making, Cancer Treatment, and Mortality: A Mixed Studies Review

Dementia and cancer occur commonly in older adults. Yet, little is known about the effect of dementia on cancer treatment and outcomes in patients diagnosed with cancer, and no guidelines exist. We performed a mixed studies review to assess the current knowledge and gaps on the impact of dementia on cancer treatment decision-making, cancer treatment, and mortality. A search in PubMed, Medline, and PsycINFO identified 55 studies on older adults with a dementia diagnosis before a cancer diagnosis and/or comorbid cancer and dementia published in English from January 2004 to February 2020. We described variability using range in quantitative estimates, ie, odds ratios (ORs), hazard ratios (HRs), and risk ratios (RR) when appropriate and performed narrative review of qualitative data. Patients with dementia were more likely to receive no curative treatment (including hospice or palliative care) (OR, HR, and RR range = 0.40-4.4, n = 8), while less likely to receive chemotherapy (OR and HR range = 0.11-0.68, n = 8), radiation (OR range = 0.24-0.56, n = 2), and surgery (OR range = 0.30-1.3, n = 4). Older adults with cancer and dementia had higher mortality than those with cancer alone (HR and OR range = 0.92-5.8, n = 33). Summarized findings from qualitative studies consistently revealed that clinicians, caregivers, and patients tended to prefer less aggressive care and gave higher priority to quality of life over life expectancy for those with dementia. Current practices in treatment-decision making for patients with both cancer and dementia are inconsistent. There is an urgent need for treatment guidelines for this growing patient population that considers patient and caregiver perspectives.

[Integral approach to the older patient with cancer]

Introduction

The world population, as well as the number of elderly people, grow exponentially. Elderly individuals are at a higher risk of developing an oncological disease, especially because they are subject to a longer period of exposure to carcinogens, and a worse capacity for regeneration of their deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) (1). Cancer in elderly individuals represents 80% of the annual deaths secondary to this pathology (2). The older patient with cancer presents many differences with respect to the rest of elderly individuals. On the one hand, functional limitation and geriatric syndromes are more prevalent (3), as well as the presence of frailty (4). In addition, they habitually have a worse perception of their health status (4). For all these reasons, the attention to oncological older patients must be specialized and, in their evaluation, the use of a fundamental tool is required, the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA). As its name indicates, its application requires collaboration between different specialties (5,6). This multidisciplinary work will improve the baseline situation of the patient, in those cases in which it is possible, and will facilitate the subsequent therapeutic management (7). Finally, the existence of concrete organizational models, such as the Oncogeriatrics Units, or the Cancer Consultations in the Elderly, can facilitate and favor this integral approach (5). In this article a review of all these concepts is carried out.

Dermatologic events from EGFR inhibitors: the issue of the missing patient voice

Purpose

As epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors are associated with a variety of dermatologic adverse events (dAEs), the purpose of this study was to develop an overview of current knowledge of dAEs associated with EGFR inhibitors and to identify knowledge gaps regarding incidence, treatment, impact on quality of life (QOL), and patient acceptance.

Method

A structured literature search was conducted using MEDLINE/PubMed (January 1983 to January 2014). In total, 71 publications published from 2004 to 2014 were identified for consideration in the final evidence review.

Results

The majority of published articles concentrate on the incidence of skin reactions, duration, treatment, and prevention strategies. Different grading systems based on the symptoms of skin rash or on health-related QOL (HRQOL) are used. An additional topic is the possible correlation between acneiform rash and efficacy of EGFR inhibitors. Knowledge gaps identified in the literature were how dAEs impact QOL compared with other AEs from a patient’s perspective, patients’ acceptance of dAEs (willingness to tolerate), and the impact of physician-patient communication on treatment decisions.

Conclusions

Research is needed on the impact of dAEs on patients’ acceptance of cancer treatments. Systematic studies are missing that compare the impact of dAEs with other toxicities on therapy decisions from both physician’s and patient’s view, and that investigate the balance between efficacy and avoidance of acneiform rash in treatment decisions. Such studies could provide deeper insights into the acceptance of the risk of untoward dermatologic events by both physicians and patients when treating advanced cancers.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00520-016-3419-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Adjuvant chemotherapy in elderly patients with breast cancer: key challenges

Elderly women with early breast cancer (BC) form a heterogeneous and large subgroup (41.8% of women with BC are over 65). Decision making in this subgroup is made more difficult by lack of familiarity with their physical, cognitive and social issues. Adequate management depends on biological factors and accurate clinical evaluation through comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA). CGA can help to better select and determine potential risks factors for patients who are candidates for adjuvant chemotherapy. It is still recently introduced in geriatric oncology and there is a lack of awareness of its importance. Available data on adjuvant chemotherapy for BC is limited but suggests it can be of benefit for well selected patients, though the risk of short and long-term toxicity is significant. Here we provide a discussion of the key practical issues in decision making in the setting of adjuvant chemotherapy for elderly BC patients.