Kang Hyunwook
Department of Nursing, College of Nursing, Kangwon National University, Gangwon-do, Korea.
Asia Pac J Oncol Nurs. 2021 Mar 12;8(3):287-294. doi: 10.4103/2347-5625.311130. eCollection 2021 May-Jun.
Frailty is prevalent among community-dwelling older adults with cancer and is associated with increased mortality and complications of treatments. However, evidence on the multiple factors influencing frailty in this population is scarce. This paper aimed to identify the demographic, sociobehavioral, and health status-related correlates of frailty in community-dwelling older adults with cancer.
This was a descriptive cross-sectional study using data from the fourth wave of the Living Condition of Elderly Study in South Korea conducted in 2017. Among the 10,299 individuals aged ≥65 years who participated in the survey, data of 391 individuals with cancer were analyzed. Frailty status (robust, prefrailty, and frailty) was assessed using the Korean version of the 5-item: Fatigue, Resistance, Ambulation, Illnesses, and Loss of weight scale. We performed descriptive statistical analysis to report summary measures, and bivariate (-test, Chi-squared test, and analysis of variance) and multivariate regression analyses.
Frailty and prefrailty were prevalent in 24.8% and 50.6% of the participants, respectively. The strongest correlate of frailty was a greater level of depression, followed by low levels of physical activity, dependency in instrumental activities of daily living, a greater number of comorbidities, an advanced age, a lower household income, and a widowed marital status.
Community-dwelling older adults who had cancer and depression had the highest risk of frailty. Given the adverse impact of frailty on health outcomes in this population, health-care providers need to provide interventions incorporating the management of depression, physical activity, and comorbidities to prevent or manage frailty.
衰弱在社区居住的老年癌症患者中普遍存在，且与死亡率增加和治疗并发症相关。然而，关于影响该人群衰弱的多种因素的证据却很少。本文旨在确定社区居住的老年癌症患者中衰弱与人口统计学、社会行为和健康状况的相关性。
这是一项描述性横断面研究，使用了2017年韩国老年生活状况第四次调查的数据。在参与调查的10299名年龄≥65岁的个体中，分析了391名癌症患者的数据。使用韩国版的5项量表（疲劳、抵抗力、步行能力、疾病和体重减轻）评估衰弱状态（强健、衰弱前期和衰弱）。我们进行了描述性统计分析以报告汇总指标，以及双变量分析（t检验、卡方检验和方差分析）和多变量回归分析。
分别有24.8%和50.6%的参与者存在衰弱和衰弱前期。与衰弱最相关的因素是抑郁程度较高，其次是身体活动水平低、日常生活工具性活动依赖、共病数量多、年龄较大、家庭收入较低和丧偶婚姻状况。
患有癌症和抑郁症的社区居住老年人衰弱风险最高。鉴于衰弱对该人群健康结局有不利影响，医疗保健提供者需要提供包括抑郁症管理、身体活动和共病管理的干预措施以预防或管理衰弱。
