Geriatric Assessment-Identified Deficits in Older Cancer Patients With Normal Performance Status

Background.We investigated whether a brief geriatric assessment (GA) would identify important patient deficits that could affect treatment tolerance and care outcomes within a sample of older cancer patients rated as functionally normal (80%–100%) on the Karnofsky performance status (KPS) scale. Methods. Cancer patients aged $65 years were assessed usingabriefGAthatincludedbothprofessionallyandpatientscored KPS and measures of comorbidity, polypharmacy, cognition, function, nutrition, and psychosocial status. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression. Results.The sample included 984 patients: mean age was 73 years (range: 65–99 years), 74% were female, and 89% were white. GA was conducted before (23%), during (41%), or after (36%) treatment. Overall, 54% had a breast cancer diagnosis (n 5 528), and 46% (n 5 456) had cancers at other sites. Moreover, 81% of participants (n 5 796) had both professionally and self-rated KPS $80, defined as functionally normal, and those patients are the focus of analysis. In this subsample, 550 (69%) had at least1 GA-identified deficit, 222 (28%) had 1 deficit, 140 (18%) had 2 deficits, and 188 (24%) had $3 deficits. Specifically, 43% reported taking $9 medications daily, 28% had decreased social activity, 25% had$4comorbidities,23%had$1impairmentininstrumen