Predicting Frailty and Geriatric Interventions in Older Cancer Patients: Performance of Two Screening Tools for Seven Frailty Definitions—ELCAPA Cohort

Screening tools have been developed to identify patients warranting a complete geriatric assessment (GA). However, GA lacks standardization and does not capture important aspects of geriatric oncology practice. We measured and compared the diagnostic performance of screening tools G8 and modified G8 according to multiple clinically relevant reference standards. We included 1136 cancer patients ≥ 70 years old referred for GA (ELCAPA cohort; median age, 80 years; males, 52%; main locations: digestive (36.3%), breast (16%), and urinary tract (14.8%); metastases, 43.5%). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) estimates were compared between both tools against: (1) the detection of ≥1 or (2) ≥2 GA impairments, (3) the prescription of ≥1 geriatric intervention and the identification of an unfit profile according to (4) a latent class typology, expert-based classifications from (5) Balducci, (6) the International Society of Geriatric Oncology task force (SIOG), or using (7) a GA frailty index according to the Rockwood accumulation of deficits principle. AUROC values were ≥0.80 for both tools under all tested definitions. They were statistically significantly higher for the modified G8 for six reference standards: ≥1 GA impairment (0.93 vs. 0.89), ≥2 GA impairments (0.90 vs. 0.87), ≥1 geriatric intervention (0.85 vs. 0.81), unfit according to Balducci (0.86 vs. 0.80) and SIOG classifications (0.88 vs. 0.83), and according to the GA frailty index (0.86 vs. 0.84). Our findings demonstrate the robustness of both screening tools against different reference standards, with evidence of better diagnostic performance of the modified G8.

The SINgapore GERiatric Intervention Study to Reduce Cognitive Decline and Physical Frailty (SINGER): Study Design and Protocol

Background: The SINgapore GERiatric intervention study to reduce cognitive decline and physical frailty (SINGER) randomised controlled trial (RCT) uses a multidomain lifestyle interventions approach, shown to be effective by the Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) trial, to delay cognitive decline. Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of the SINGER multidomain lifestyle interventions in older adults at risk for dementia to delay cognitive decline. Participants: 1200 participants between 60-77 years old, with Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Incidence of Dementia (CAIDE) dementia risk score ≥6, fulfilling at least one of the following LIBRA index for diet, cognitive activity, physical activity and a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score ≥18, ≤27 points, will be recruited across Singapore. Methods: SINGER is a 2-year multi-site RCT consisting of multidomain interventions: dietary advice, exercise, cognitive training, and vascular risk factors management. Participants will be randomised into either the Self-Guided Intervention (SGI; general lifestyle and health information and resources) or Structured Lifestyle Intervention (SLI) group. The SLI comprises diet training (6 group and 3 individual sessions over 12 months); exercise (supervised: 1-hour twice weekly for 6 months, unsupervised: 2-3/week for the rest of the study duration); cognitive sessions (15-30 minutes/session, 3/week for 6 months, together with 10 workshops in 24 months). Vascular management takes place every 3-6 months or otherwise as specified by study physicians. The primary outcome is global cognition measured using the modified Neuropsychological Battery assessing performance in various domains, such as episodic memory, executive function and processing speed. Secondary outcome measures include: domain-specific cognition and function, imaging evidence of brain and retinal changes, incidence and progression of chronic diseases, blood biomarkers, quality of life, mental health and cost-benefit analysis. Conclusions: SINGER is part of the Worldwide-FINGERS international network, which is at the forefront of harmonizing approaches to effective non-pharmacological interventions in delaying cognitive decline in older adults at risk of dementia. By establishing the efficacy of multidomain interventions in preventing cognitive decline, SINGER aims to implement the findings into public health and clinical practices by informing policy makers, and guiding the design of community- and individual-level health promotion initiatives.

Infusing Representativeness and Cultivating Harmonization in Alzheimer’s Trials: World Wide FINGERS

World Wide Fingers is a network involving over 30 countries organized to conduct randomized controlled clinical trials to slow the progression of cognitive decline and reduce dementia risks. Trials are designed to parallel the successful Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) trial of a multidomain lifestyle intervention featuring increased physical activity, improved diet, cognitive training, and metabolic risk factor monitoring. While FINGER found that its intervention significantly benefited cognitive function, it is not clear whether this approach might be successfully tailored to other cultures and environments to yield similar results. This is the goal of World Wide FINGERS. It infuses representativeness by enrolling cohorts that reflect the communities in which it is conducted. For findings across the many trials to be integrated, it is necessary for protocols to be harmonized as much as possible. The COVID-19 pandemic presents special challenges towards harmonization as its disruptions of trial protocols and conduct vary among countries and over time. This symposium is organized to provide the scientific background and framework for the World Wide FINGERS. Novel grassroots efforts towards enrolling representative cohorts in the US will be described. Plans for harmonization and federated data analyses spanning international boundaries and regulations will be outlined. Integrated approaches to challenges of COVID-19 pandemic across trials will be presented. The conclusion of this session will be a discussion of how World Wide FINGERS may serve as a model for collaborative approaches to identify effective, translatable approaches to reduce risks for Alzheimer’s disease.

An interdisciplinary intervention is associated with overall improvement of older inpatients in a non-geriatric setting: A retrospective analysis of an observational, longitudinal study with one-year follow up

Older persons often loose independence during hospitalization. This analysis aimed at retrospectively evaluating the effects of a pilot individualized multidimensional intervention (IMI) on the comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA)-based prognosis of older multimorbid patients in an acute internal medicine setting. Records from 72 patients aged 65 years and above who received the IMI were compared to those from 403 patients who received standard of care (SOC). All patients had undergone the CGA-based Multidimensional Prognostic Index (MPI) calculation on admission and at discharge. Patients were divided into three risk groups according to MPI score: Low-risk (MPI-1, 0-0.33), medium-risk (MPI-2, 0.34-0.66) and high-risk (MPI-3, 0.67-1). From admission to discharge, IMI patients showed significant improvements in their MPI score (P=0.014) and subdomains compared to SOC. This was particularly evident in MPI-2 and MPI-3 as well as in patients with poorer functions on MPI admission subdomains. An early geriatric intervention during hospitalization for disease-specific treatments in internal medicine settings improves overall individual prognosis in older multimorbid patients. Prospective randomized studies are needed to confirm these preliminary retrospective observations.

Effect of a Multidomain Lifestyle Intervention on Estimated Dementia Risk

We investigated the effect of a multidomain lifestyle intervention on the risk of dementia estimated using the validated CAIDE risk score (post-hoc analysis). The Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) is a 2-year randomized controlled trial among 1,260 at-risk older adults (60–77 years). Difference in the estimated mean change in CAIDE score at 2 years in the intervention compared to the control group was –0.16 (95 %CI –0.31 to 0.00) (p = 0.013), corresponding to a relative dementia risk reduction between 6.04–6.50%. This could be interpreted as a reflection of the prevention potential of the intervention.

Colorectal Cancer in Elderly Patients with Surgical Indication: State of the Art, Current Management, Role of Frailty and Benefits of a Geriatric Liaison

Six out of every 10 new colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnoses are in people over 65 years of age. Current standardized surgical approaches have proved to be tolerable on the elderly population, although post-operative complications are more frequent than in the younger CRC population. Frailty is common in elderly CRC patients with surgical indication, and it appears to be also associated with an increase of post-operative complications. Fast-track pathways have been developed to assure and adequate post-operative recovery, but comprehensive geriatric assessments (CGA) are still rare among the preoperative evaluation of elderly CRC patients. This review provides a thorough study of the effects that a CGA assessment and a geriatric intervention have in the prognosis of CRC elderly patients with surgical indication.