IMPACT OF CHEMOTHERAPY ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE AND FUNCTIONAL STATUS OF OLDER ADULTS WITH NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER.
Contributors: University of California, San Francisco.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 352
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Oncology.; Gerontology.
Description: Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer death in the United States and the incidence is increasing over 65 years of age. The lack of effective treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer makes factors other than long term survival important criteria when measuring treatment experiences. This longitudinal study described and compared the effects of an initial cycle of chemotherapy on quality of life (QOL) and functional status (FS) of adults (under and over 65 years of age) with non-small cell lung cancer. An untreated cohort was compared with the younger and older treated adults.

In this study, QOL was defined as the degree of disruption in multiple dimensions of everyday life due to illness and treatment as measured by the Cancer Inventory of Problem Situations (CIPS). FS was defined as both a subjective (Rand Physical Functioning Scale) and objective assessment (Karnofsky Performance Status) of independent physical activity.

Data were collected on 24 adults with non-small cell lung cancer at Time 1 (n = 19 for Time 1 and Time 3). The mean age of all subjects was 60.3 years. Five subjects treated with chemotherapy were over 65 years. The subjects were tested pre, during and post chemotherapy. The patients receiving supportive care were tested within the same time frame.

Disruptions in global QOL over time were not significantly different for older as compared with younger adults, or as compared with the untreated cohort. Older adults were more severely limited in physical dimensions of QOL. Older adults had less psychosocial problems than younger adults except in the areas of cognition and worries about family coping. Older adults had significantly less disruptions in marital function as compared with younger adults. The measure of QOL was correlated with both measures of functional status (p $<$.005). Significant decline (p =.005) occurred in physical activities for untreated as compared with treated subjects. In a multiple regression, subjects with comorbid disease had a lower quality of life.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-04, Section: B, page: 1748.

Thesis (D.N.S.)--UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, 1989.

School code: 0034.