Van Cleave et al identified risk factors for symptom distress in an older adult following cancer surgery. This can help to identify a patient who may benefit from more aggressive follow-up, especially if the patient is an outpatient. The authors are from New York University.
Patient selection: age >= 65 years and recent cancer surgery (limited to thoracic, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, or gynecologic)
Symptom distress tended to fall in the months after surgery (distress maximum at baseline).
Risk factors for symptom distress following cancer surgery:
(1) age >= 75 years
(2) >= 3 comorbidities
(3) mental health worse
(4) impaired function (disability)
(5) thoracic, gastrointestinal or gynecologic cancer (referenced to genitourinary cancer)
where:
• The type of surgery was modified in the implementation.
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