Assessment of Functional Status and Quality of Life of Elderly Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy and Radiotherapy Combined with Chemotherapy – A Cross-Sectional Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristic of Study Groups According to Diagnosis and Kind of Treatment (N=76)

Diagnosis/Kind of Treatment	Radiotherapy n(%)	Chemotherapy n(%)	Radiotherapy + Chemotherapy n(%)	Radiotherapy + Patients After Surgery n(%)	Radiotherapy + Chemotherapy + Patients After Surgery n(%)
Cancer of the oral cavity	6 (7.9)	1 (1.3)	6 (7.9)	–	–
Head and neck cancer	4 (5.3)	–	6 (7.9)	–	2 (2.6)
Cancer of esophagus	2 (2.6)	1 (1.3)	4 (5.3)	1 (1.3)	3 (3.9)
Cancer of cervical and reproductive organs	2 (2.6)	1 (1.3)	6 (7.9)	–	–
Tumors of the central nervous system (CNS)	2 (2.6)	–	2 (2.6)	1 (1.3)	2 (2.6)
Cancer of the large intestine	1 (1.3)	–	3 (3.9)	–	2 (2.6)
Lung cancer	2 (2.6)	–	3 (3.9)	1 (1.3)	–
Cancer of the urinary bladder	1 (1.3)	–	4 (5.2)	–	1 (1.3)
Gastric cancer	–	1 (1.3)	2 (2.6)	–	–
Prostate cancer	–	–	–	1 (1.3)	–
Cancer of the skin	1 (1.3)	–	–	–	–
Focus primaries ignotus (FPI)	–	–	1 (1.3)	–	–
Total	21 (27.6)	4 (5.3)	37 (48.6)	4 (5.3)	10 (13.2)

Table 2 Functional Assessment and HRQoL in the Study Group According to FACIT-F (N=76)

Item	Physical Well-Being (PWB)	Social/Family Well-Being (SWB)	Emotional Well-Being (EWB)	Functional Well-Being (FWB)	Fatigue Subscale (FS)	FACIT-F TOI	FACIT-F Total Score
	0–28	0–28	0–24	0–28	0–52	0–108	0–160
Mean	18.26	18.45	13.76	16.88	32.55	67.7	99.91
SD	5.97	5.39	5.21	5.24	10.5	19.1	22.65
Min.	3.0	0.0	2.0	5.0	5.0	15	46.0
Max.	28.0	24.0	24.0	28.0	51.0	102	146.0

Table 3 Results of Mini-MAC in the Study Group (N=76)

Mini-MAC	n	Min.	Max.	Mean	SD
Anxiety	76	7	26	17.09	3.77
Fighting spirit	76	14	28	21.3	3.19
Helplessness– hopelessness	76	12	24	17.26	2.01
Positive reevaluation	76	15	27	21.55	3.03
Destructive style	76	4*	9*	7.09	1.16
Constructive style	76	1*	8*	4.39	1.23

Note: *Sten.

Abbreviations: n, number; Min – Max, minimum – maximum; M, mean; SD, standard deviation.

Table 4 Functional Assessment and HRQoL According to Gender (N=76)

FACIT-F	Sex	n	Mean	SD	t	df	p
PWB	Male	52	19.44	5.66	2.629	74	0.010
	Female	24	15.71	5.94
SWB	Male	52	18	5.01	−1.066	74	0.290
	Female	24	19.42	6.13
EWB	Male	52	13.79	5.43	0.062	74	0.951
	Female	24	13.71	4.82
FWB	Male	52	17.6	5.37	1.773	74	0.080
	Female	24	15.33	4.68
FS	Male	52	34.6	10.1	2.589	74	0.012
	Female	24	28.13	9.99
FACIT-F TOI	Male	52	71.63	18.8	2.753	74	0.007
	Female	24	59.17	17.32
FACIT-F	Male	52	103.42	22.01	2.036	74	0.045
	Female	24	92.29	22.47

Abbreviations: n, number; M, mean; SD, standard deviation; df, degree of freedom, t, Student’s t-test; PWB, physical well-being; SWB, social/family well-being; EWB, emotional well-being; FWB, functional well-being; FS, fatigue subscale.

Table 5 Correlation Between FACIT-F and Lawton Scale (IADL)

FACIT-F	IADL
	r	p
Physical well-being (PWB)	0.371	0.001
Social/family well-being (SWB)	0.157	0.175
Emotional well-being (EWB)	0.204	0.077
Functional Well-being (FWB)	0.5	p<0.001
Fatigue subscale (FS)	0.529	p<0.001
FACIT-F TOI	0.544	p<0.001
FACIT-F	0.545	p<0.001

Abbreviation: r, Pearson’s correlation coefficient.

Table 6 Functional Assessment and Depression in the Study Group (N=76)

FACIT-F	GDS	n	Mean	SD	Min	Max	Anova
Physical well-being (PWB)	Without depression	21	22.62	4.38	15	28	F=12.496
	Depression moderate	45	17.33	5.28	5	28	df=2
	Severe depression	10	13.3	6.51	3	21	p<0.001
Social/family well-being (SWB)	Without depression	21	18.62	3.80	9	24	F=2.519
	Depression moderate	45	19.13	5.10	0	24	df=2
	Severe depression	10	15	8.17	0	24	p=0.088
Emotional well-being (EWB)	Without depression	21	17.95	3.59	12	24	F=12.197
	Depression moderate	45	12.24	4.96	2	23	df=2
	Severe depression	10	11.8	4.54	5	20	p<0.001
Functional well-being (FWB)	Without depression	21	20.67	4.11	13	28	F=11.894
	Depression moderate	45	16.04	4.79	5	25	df=2
	Severe depression	10	12.7	4.78	7	20	p<0.001
Fatigue subscale (FS)	Without depression	21	40.76	9.04	15	51	F=14.394
	Depression moderate	45	30.67	8.83	13	47	df=2
	Severe depression	10	23.8	9.80	5	35	p<0.001
FACIT-F TOI	Without depression	21	84.05	15.26	46	102	F=19.029
	Depression moderate	45	64.04	15.55	23	94	df=2
	Severe depression	10	49.8	17.50	15	71	p<0.001
FACIT-F	Without depression	21	120.62	17.11	79	146	F=24.334
	Depression moderate	45	95.42	17.86	48	132	df=2
	Severe depression	10	76.6	18.59	46	110	p<0.001

Abbreviations: n, number; SD, standard deviation; df, degree of freedom; F, Fisher Snedecor test.

Table 7 Correlation Between Functional Assessment and Mental Adaptation to Oncological Disease in the Study Group (N=76)

FACIT-F	Mini-MAC								Constructive Style		Destructive Style
	Anxiety Attitude		Fighting Spirit		Helplessness–Hopelessness		Positive Re-Evaluation
	r	p	r	p	r	p	r	p	r	p	r	p
PWB	−0.474	0.000	0.103	0.378	−0.404	0.000	−0.213	0.065	−0,047	0.684	−0.486	p<0.001
SWB	0.096	0.408	0.175	0.131	0,026	0.825	0.246	0.033	0,281	0.014	0.043	0.711
EWB	−0.611	p<0.001	0.274	0.017	−0.276	0.016	0.099	0.397	0,233	0.042	−0.551	p<0.001
FWB	−0.472	p<0.001	0.177	0.126	−0.378	0.001	0.022	0.852	0,113	0.332	−0.504	p<0.001
FS	−0.476	p<0.001	0.165	0.156	−0.242	0.035	−0.054	0.643	0,075	0.519	−0.469	p<0.001
FACIT-F TOI	−0.539	p<0.001	0.171	0.14	−0.362	0.001	−0.09	0.438	0,057	0.623	−0.547	p<0.001
FACIT-F	−0.574	p<0.001	0.249	0.03	−0.364	0.001	0.005	0.967	0,169	0.144	−0.58	p<0.001

Abbreviations: p, statistical significance coefficient; r, Spearman correlation coefficient; PWB, physical well-being; SWB, social/family well-being; EWB, emotional well-being; FWB, functional well-being; FS, fatigue subscale.

Table 8 Correlation Between Functional Assessment and Methods of Treatment in the Study Group (N=76)

FACIT-F	Methods of Treatments	n	M	SD	t	df	p
Physical well-being (PWB)	Radiotherapy	30	16.83	6.597	−1.705	74	0.092
	Radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy	46	19.2	5.41
Social/family well-being (SWB)	Radiotherapy	30	17.93	5.285	−0.669	74	0.506
	Radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy	46	18.78	5.489
Emotional well-being (EWB)	Radiotherapy	30	12.93	5.099	−1.122	74	0.265
	Radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy	46	14.3	5.274
Functional well-being (FWB)	Radiotherapy	30	15.4	5.599	−2.029	74	0.046
	Radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy	46	17.85	4.821
Fatigue subscale (FS)	Radiotherapy	30	30.53	12,42	−1.361	74	0.178
	Radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy	46	33.87	8.948
FACIT-F TOI	Radiotherapy	30	62.77	21.733	−1.842	74	0.069
	Radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy	46	70.91	16.72
FACIT-F	Radiotherapy	30	93.63	24.948	−1.991	74	0.05
	Radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy	46	104	20.201

Abbreviations: n, number; M, mean; SD, standard deviation; p, statistical significance coefficient; df, degree of freedom; t, Student’s t-test.