All eight domains were predictive for at least one of the investigated outcomes but the results were quite variable across studies .
Physical function and nutritional status were the domains most often associated with mortality and systemic treatment-related outcomes , and the domain physical function was most often associated with postoperative complications .
Overall , this review demonstrates that the GA should minimally consist of physical function and nutritional status , when the aim is to predict patients -related outcomes of older patients with cancer , although the results are quite heterogeneous .
BACKGROUND A geriatric assessment ( GA ) is increasingly used to help guide treatment decisions in older patients with cancer .
However , there is no consensus regarding which domains should be included in the GA .
In addition , the field of geriatric oncology moves very fast and as a result many new studies have been published since the last review in 2015 .
Therefore , the objective of this systematic review is to evaluate which domains of the GA could predict patient-related treatment outcomes of older patients with cancer and thereby should be included in a GA .
A specialized home care intervention improves survival among older post-surgical cancer patients.
CONTEXT Changes in the healthcare system have result ed in shortened hospital stays , moving the focus of care from the hospital to the home . Patients are discharged post-operatively with ongoing needs , and whether they receive nursing care post-hospitalization can influence their recovery and survival . Little information is available about the factors that influence outcomes , including the survival of older cancer patients after cancer surgery . OBJECTIVE To compare the length of survival of older post-surgical cancer patients who received a specialized home care intervention provided by advanced practice nurses ( APNs ) with that of patients who received usual follow-up care in an ambulatory setting .  We also assessed potential predictors of survival in terms of depressive symptoms , symptom distress , functional status , comorbidities , length of hospital stay , age of patient , and stage of disease . DESIGN A r and omized controlled intervention study . SETTING Discharged older cancer patients after surgery at a Comprehensive Cancer Center in southeastern Pennsylvania . PATIENTS Three hundred seventy-five patients aged 60 to 92 , newly diagnosed with solid cancers , were treated surgically between February 1993 and December 1995 . One hundred ninety patients were r and omized to the intervention groups and 185 to the usual care group .  INTERVENTION The intervention was a st and ardized protocol that consisted of st and ard assessment and management post-surgical guidelines , doses of instructional content , and schedules of contacts . The intervention lasted 4 weeks and consisted of three home visits and five telephone contacts provided by APNs . Both the patients and their family caregivers received comprehensive clinical assessment s , monitoring , and teaching , including skills training . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Time from enrollment of patients into the study until death or last date known alive at the end of November 1996 . RESULTS During the 44-month follow-up period , 93 ( 24.8 % ) of 375 patients died . Forty-one ( 22 % ) of those who died were patients in the specialized home care intervention group , compared with 52 ( 28 % ) in the usual care group . Stage of disease at diagnosis differed between the two groups at baseline ( 38 % late stage patients in the intervention group compared with 26 % in the control group , P = .01 ) , so stratified analysis was performed . Overall , the specialized home care intervention group was found to have increased survival ( P = .002 using stratified log-rank test ) . Among early stage patients only , there was no difference in survival between the intervention and control groups . Among late stage patients , there was improved survival in the intervention group . For example , 2-year survival among late stage intervention group cases was 67 % compared with 40 % among control cases . When Cox 's proportional hazard model was used to adjust for significant baseline covariates , the relative hazard of death in the usual care group was 2.04 ( CI : 1.33 to 3.12 ; P = .001 ) after adjusting for stage of disease and surgical hospitalization length of stay . CONCLUSIONS This is the first empirical study of post-surgical cancer patients to link a specialized home care intervention by advanced practice nurses with improved survival . Additional research is needed to test home care interventions aim ed at maintaining quality of life outcomes and their effects on survival of post-surgical cancer patients
All eight domains were predictive for at least one of the investigated outcomes but the results were quite variable across studies .
Physical function and nutritional status were the domains most often associated with mortality and systemic treatment-related outcomes , and the domain physical function was most often associated with postoperative complications .
Overall , this review demonstrates that the GA should minimally consist of physical function and nutritional status , when the aim is to predict patients -related outcomes of older patients with cancer , although the results are quite heterogeneous .
BACKGROUND A geriatric assessment ( GA ) is increasingly used to help guide treatment decisions in older patients with cancer .
However , there is no consensus regarding which domains should be included in the GA .
In addition , the field of geriatric oncology moves very fast and as a result many new studies have been published since the last review in 2015 .
Therefore , the objective of this systematic review is to evaluate which domains of the GA could predict patient-related treatment outcomes of older patients with cancer and thereby should be included in a GA .