QUALITY OF LIFE IN CANCER SURVIVORS LIVING IN NURSING HOMES

ABSTRACT

Introduction Our objective was to compare the quality of life (QOL) in residents according to their cancer status, using questionnaires adapted to potential neurocognitive disorders (NCD) presence. Methods This multicenter cross-sectional study included residents aged 70 years and older able to communicate, with an estimated necessary number of subjects of 352. The study was conducted in two steps: first including residents with cancer and next a control group randomly selected among residents without any history of cancer matched on NCD and dependence status. QoL was assessed with different scales QolAD if NCD, otherwise WHOQOL-OLD and QLQC30+ELD14 in the cancer group. Results Due to the COVID pandemic, the study was terminated early, and only 70 included residents had complete analyzable data. The participants had a median age of 85 years [70-99] and 20 were male. Regarding dependence status, 20 had an ADL between 0-2, 15 an ADL between 2.5-4.5, 34 an ADL between 5-6. Among the 42 residents in the cancer group, mostly cancer survivors. 13/42 residents in the cancer group had NCD (vs. 7/28 in the control group), 19/42 in the cancer group reported pain (vs. 16/28 in the control group). Conclusions Various obstacles have prevented from completing the study low resident eligibility, difficulty in obtaining written consent, and finally the COVID pandemic which limited the availability of the nurse investigators and had impacted residents' QOL. This study could be redone at a distance from this pandemic if possible.