ArticleAge and ageing2021
Changes in social, psychological and physical well-being in the last 5 years of life of older people with cancer: a longitudinal study.
Article in Age and ageing, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Changes in quality of life throughout the illness trajectory of older adults with cancer: a systematic review.The oncologist · 2025Pooled it
- Development and Application of a Psychological Expectations Scale for Patients With Middle- and Late-Stage Cervical Cancer in China.The journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research · 2026Article
- Longitudinal associations among loneliness and physical and psychological well-being in older cancer survivors.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2026Article
- Article
- Short-term outcomes and mortality in older patients with breast cancer at a single tertiary center.Surgery in practice and science · 2025Article
- Social connection and end-of-life outcomes among older people in 19 countries: a population-based longitudinal study.The lancet. Healthy longevity · 2024Article
- Towards a novel framework for identifying commonalities and differences in older people's end-of-life trajectories: aims and interdisciplinary mixed-methods approach of the ERC-funded TRAJECT project.Palliative care and social practice · 2024Article
- Social Distress among Cancer Patients: Differential Effects of Risk Factors and Attenuating Role of Culturally Specific Social Support.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Loneliness in older adults living with cancer: A scoping review of the quantitative and qualitative evidence on behalf of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology Nursing and Allied Health Interest Group.Journal of geriatric oncology · 2023Article
- Predicting death quality from life prior to death among older Chinese in a retrospective cohort study.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Developing, Implementing, and Validating a Social Toxicity Assessment Tool of Cancer.JCO global oncology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundolder people with cancer are at risk of complex and fluctuating health problems, but little is known about the extent to which their well-being changes in the last years of life.
objectiveto examine changes in physical, psychological and social well-being in the last 5 years of life of older people with cancer.
designprospective cohort study.
settingBelgium, the Netherlands.
participantspeople with a new primary diagnosis of breast, prostate, lung or gastrointestinal cancer, aged ≥70 years, life expectancy >6 months, were recruited from nine hospitals. We analysed data of deceased patients.
methodsdata were collected from participants around diagnosis, and after 6 months, 1, 3 and 5 years through structured questionnaires administered through interviews or as self-report. Outcomes were physical, emotional, social, role functioning (EORTC QLQ-C30), depressive symptoms (GDS-15), emotional and social loneliness (Loneliness Scale). We conducted linear mixed model analyses.
resultsanalysing 225 assessments from 107 deceased participants (assessments took place between 1,813 and 5 days before death), mean age at baseline 77 years (standard deviation: 5.2), we found statistically significant deterioration in physical functioning (b = 0,016 [95%confidence interval 0.009-0.023]), depressive symptoms (b = -0,001 [-0.002 to 0.000]) and role functioning (b = 0.014 [0.004-0.024]). Changes over time in emotional and social functioning and in social and emotional loneliness were smaller and statistically non-significant.
conclusionscare towards the end of life for older people with cancer needs to put their social and psychological well-being at the centre, alongside physical needs. Future research should focus on understanding inter-individual variation in trajectories.
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