Department of Medical Oncology, Erzincan Binali Yıldrıım University Medical School, 24000, Erzincan, Turkey.
Department of Internal Medicine, Izmir Tepecik Research Hospital, 35000, Izmir, Turkey.
Support Care Cancer. 2021 Dec;29(12):7957-7964. doi: 10.1007/s00520-021-06391-7. Epub 2021 Jul 2.
Older cancer patients are more likely to present with functional dependency, multiple comorbidities, polypharmacy, malnutrition, and cognitive dysfunction than their younger counterparts which increases the risk of elder abuse. Herein, in this single-institution observational study, we aimed to determine the frequency and risk factors of abuse in cancer patients aged 70 and above.
A total of 217 cancer patients aged ≥ 70 years who applied to the medical oncology outpatient clinic between June 2020 and January 2021 were included in this study. Informed consent was obtained before data collection. The Hwalek-Sengstock Elder Abuse Screening Test (H-S/EAST) was used to evaluate elder abuse. Sociodemographic characteristics and clinical measurements were collected.
The mean age was 75.5, and 59.4% were male. The prevalence of abuse risk in older patients with cancer was 39.2%. In the multivariate logistic regression model, applying to the outpatient clinic for treatment (OR: 3.369, 95% CI: 1.455-7.802, p = 0.005), living in urban (OR: 5.787, 95% CI: 2.377-14.090, p < 0.001), history of falls (OR: 4.587, 95% CI: 1.789-11.762, p = 0.002), and being depressed according to the Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15) score (OR: 10.788, 95% CI: 4.491-25.914, p < 0.001) were associated with an increased risk of elder abuse. Primary/junior education level and high school/university education level were protective against elder abuse risk compared to being illiterate (OR: 0.073, 95% CI: 0.025-0.210 and OR: 0.213, 95% CI: 0.056-0.806, respectively).
Cancer patients aged ≥ 70 years had a high risk of elder abuse. Elder abuse should be screened in patients with cancer, and the effects of this phenomenon on cancer care should be investigated in larger studies.
与年轻患者相比，老年癌症患者更有可能出现功能依赖、多种合并症、多种药物治疗、营养不良和认知功能障碍，这增加了遭受虐待的风险。在此，在这项单机构观察性研究中，我们旨在确定 70 岁及以上癌症患者中虐待的频率和危险因素。
本研究纳入了 2020 年 6 月至 2021 年 1 月期间向医学肿瘤门诊就诊的 217 名年龄≥70 岁的癌症患者。在收集数据之前获得了知情同意。使用 Hwalek-Sengstock 老年虐待筛查测试（H-S/EAST）评估虐待情况。收集社会人口统计学特征和临床测量值。
患者的平均年龄为 75.5 岁，59.4%为男性。老年癌症患者发生虐待风险的比例为 39.2%。在多变量逻辑回归模型中，到门诊就诊治疗（OR：3.369，95%CI：1.455-7.802，p=0.005）、居住在城市（OR：5.787，95%CI：2.377-14.090，p<0.001）、有跌倒史（OR：4.587，95%CI：1.789-11.762，p=0.002）和根据老年抑郁量表-15（GDS-15）评分诊断为抑郁（OR：10.788，95%CI：4.491-25.914，p<0.001）与虐待风险增加相关。与文盲相比，接受小学/初中教育（OR：0.073，95%CI：0.025-0.210）和接受高中/大学教育（OR：0.213，95%CI：0.056-0.806）的患者发生虐待的风险较低。
年龄≥70 岁的癌症患者存在较高的虐待风险。应该在癌症患者中筛查虐待情况，并在更大规模的研究中调查这种现象对癌症治疗的影响。
