The Impact of Aging on Symptom Prevalence and Management in Terminally ill Patients With Cancer.

CONTEXT: With global population aging, the number of older patients with cancer is increasing. However, few data are available on palliative care for these patients.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate differences in symptom prevalence and the need for medical interventions among patients of different ages in a palliative care unit.

METHODS

In this retrospective analysis, a consecutive sample of 1032 terminally ill patients with cancer were categorized into the following age ranges: <70, 70-79, 80-89, and ≥90 years. We evaluated symptom prevalence, the need for palliative medicines, opioid dose on the day before death, and the need for palliative sedation. Trend tests were used to examine whether the prevalence of findings increased or decreased with age.

RESULTS

As age increased, significant decreasing trends were observed in the prevalence of pain, dyspnea, fatigue, constipation, nausea, drowsiness, difficulty sleeping, anxiety, and dysuria but not in appetite loss, edema, sputum production, or delirium. As age increased, significant decreasing trends were also observed in the need for opioids, benzodiazepines, antiemetics, and anticholinergics. The median opioid doses in the <70, 70-79, 80-89, and ≥90 years age groups were 118, 72, 48, and 48 mg oral morphine equivalents/day, respectively (P < 0.0001). The need for palliative sedation showed a significant decreasing trend as age increased (P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSION

We found age to be inversely related to symptom prevalence and medical interventions among terminally ill patients with cancer, contributing to the understanding of the experience of older patients with cancer.