Functional status decline in older patients with breast and colorectal cancer after cancer treatment: a prospective cohort study

Objectives The aim of the present study was to disentangle the impact of age and that of cancer diagnosis and treatment on functional status (FS) decline in older patients with cancer. Materials and Methods Patients with breast and colorectal cancer aged 50–69\ua0years and aged ≥\ua070\ua0years who had undergone surgery, and older patients without cancer aged ≥\ua070\ua0years were included. FS was assessed at baseline and after 12\ua0months follow-up, using the Katz index for activities of daily living (ADL) and the Lawton scale for instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). FS decline was defined as ≥\ua01 point decrease on the ADL or IADL scale from baseline to 12\ua0months follow-up. Results In total, 179 older patients with cancer (≥ 70\ua0years), 341 younger patients with cancer (50–69\ua0years) and 317 older patients without cancer (≥ 70\ua0years) were included. FS decline was found in 43.6%, 24.6% and 28.1% of the groups, respectively. FS decline was significantly worse in older compared to younger patients with cancer receiving no chemotherapy (44.5% versus 17.6%, p\ua