ArticleJournal of the American Geriatrics Society2019
Association Between Symptom Burden and Physical Function in Older Patients with Cancer.
Article in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
45 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Falls among geriatric cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence and risk across cancer types.BMC geriatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Physical function patient-reported outcomes among adolescent and young adult cancer survivors: A systematic review.Cancer medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Associations of frailty with symptoms, and HRQOL in older cancer survivors after cancer treatments: a systematic review and meta-analyses.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2024Pooled it
- Resilience in symptom response to cancer treatment: a new lens for examining variable symptom trajectories in older adults with advanced cancer.The oncologist · 2026Trial
- An Unsupervised Machine Learning Approach to Evaluating the Association of Symptom Clusters With Adverse Outcomes Among Older Adults With Advanced Cancer: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Pilot Randomized Trial of a Transdisciplinary Geriatric and Palliative Care Intervention for Older Adults With Cancer.Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN · 2020Trial
- Double Jeopardy: Risks of Opioid-Benzodiazepine Co-prescription in Older Adults with Gastrointestinal Cancer.Annals of surgical oncology · 2026Article
- Nutrition rehabilitation programs and cachexia clinics for anorexia-cachexia syndrome in patients with cancer.The oncologist · 2026Review
- Distinct Symptom Profiles in Younger and Older Patients With Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy.Cancer medicine · 2026Article
- Review
- Scalable tracking of symptoms in the electronic health record using large language models in patients with central nervous system cancers undergoing therapy.Neuro-oncology · 2026Article
- Patient-Reported Symptom and Symptom Clusters During Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy for Cancer Patients: A Cross-Sectional Survey.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Interplay between mobility, social participation, and symptom burden in advanced lung cancer.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- Review
- Experiences participating in a telehealth exercise program among older adults with cancer: a qualitative study.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2025Article
- Prevalence and incidence of falls in older adults with cancer: a systematic review with meta-analysis.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2025Review
- Longitudinal associations between symptom burden and fall risks in older adults with a cancer history: Findings from the 2011-2015 National Health and Aging Trends Study.Journal of geriatric oncology · 2025Article
- Article
- Systemic inflammation and changes in physical well-being in patients with breast cancer: a longitudinal study in community oncology settings.The oncologist · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo evaluate the independent association between symptom burden and physical function impairment in older adults with cancer.
designCross-sectional.
settingTwo university-based geriatric oncology clinics.
participantsPatients with cancer aged 65 years or older who underwent evaluation with geriatric assessment (GA). MEASUREMENTS: Symptom burden was measured as a summary score of severity ratings (range = 0-10) of 10 commonly reported symptoms using a Clinical Symptom Inventory (CSI). Functional impairment was defined as the presence of one or more impairments of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), any significant physical activity limitation on the Medical Outcomes Survey (MOS), one or more recent falls in the previous 6 months, or a Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) score of 9 or less. Multivariate analysis evaluated the association between symptom burden and physical function impairment, adjusting for other clinical and sociodemographic variables.
resultsFrom 2011 to 2015, 359 patients with cancer and a median age of 81 years (range = 65-95 y) consented. The mean CSI score was 23.2 ± 20.5 with an observed range of 0 to 90. Patients in the highest quartile of symptom burden (N = 91; CSI score 52 ± 13) had a higher prevalence of IADL impairment (91% vs 51%), physical activity limitation (93% vs 65%), falls (55% vs 21%), and SPPB score of 9 or less (92% vs 69%) (all P values <.01) when compared with those in the bottom quartile (N = 81; CSI score: 2 ± 2). With each unit increase in CSI score, the odds of having IADL impairment, physical activity limitations, falls, and SPPB scores of 9 or less increased by 4.8%, 4.4%, 2.9%, and 2.5%, respectively (P < .05 for all results).
conclusionsIn older patients with cancer, higher symptom burden is associated with functional impairment. Future studies are warranted to evaluate if improved symptom management can improve function in older cancer patients. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:998-1004, 2019.
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