200 Background: Currently in the USA, 60% of all cancers and 70% of cancer mortality occur s i n people aged 65 and older. However, there are significant gaps in knowledge of oncology treatment outcomes in the geriatric population. The Cancer and Aging Research Group developed a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) tool in 2 007 to assess the abilities of older patients to make judgments and carry out daily activities. The assessment was created to help doctors recognize issues in the geriatric population and develop comprehensive treatment plans with the aim to improve outcomes in this age group. The purpose of the study was to assess whether the CGA tool would be useful in the physician’s decision-making process and in making appropriate and timely patient referrals in a rural community oncology setting. Methods: Newly diagnosed cancer patients with non-hematological cancers above 65 years of age seeking care at the Columbia Memorial Hospital -OHSU Knight Cancer Collaborative during May to August of 2019 were consented and asked to take the CGA survey. A summary of the patient’s responses with the scores and a list of recommendations was provided to the physician at the time of the initial consultation. Along with this summary, a single question survey was given to the physician in order to assess whether the feedback was helpful in their treatment planning. Results: Of the 49 new patients seen at the CMH-OHSU Knight Cancer Collaborative who qualified to participate in the study 22 (44.8%) completed the survey,18 (36.7%) did not complete the survey, 5 (10%) did not come in for their clinic appointment, and 5 others were disqualified from the survey for other reasons. The results indicate that the survey tool aided the clinician in the majority (95%) of the cases to make overall assessments of their patient’s health and helped make management decisions. The results showed that more referrals were made to physical therapy & primary care clinics in patients who took the survey as compared to the patients who did not take the survey [14% vs 5%]. Conclusions: We conclude that the oncologists at our cancer center found that the CARG assessment tool is beneficial for physicians in their decision-making process while assessing an elderly patient and helped them provide timely and more comprehensive treatment care plan.
Correction to: Comprehensive geriatric assessment and decision-making in older men with incurable but manageable (chronic) cancer
