Pain management, activities of daily living and the assessment of the WHOQOL-OLD module: results of a cross-sectional analysis of a cohort of older men with oncological diagnoses

Abstract

Cancer represents a major public health problem worldwide, especially in the older adult population which is increasing rapidly. Previous studies show that the majority of older adults with cancer report poor health-related quality of life (QoL) and that up to 90% of patients with metastases or terminal stage disease complain of pain at some point. Nevertheless, the impact of pain and disability on highly important aspects of older adults’ health, such as intimacy or the perception of autonomy, has been scarcely studied. This cross-sectional study aimed to identify the association between poor pain management and disability for activities of daily living (ADL) and 6 aspects of older adults’ health assessed by a short version of the WHOQOL-OLD module in 891 older male patients with a newly diagnosed malignant neoplasm. The mean age of the participants was 79.1 years (SD 3.2) and the most frequent tumor location was the prostate. In the adjusted analyses, the raw total score of the WHOQOL-OLD module decreased by 7.43 in patients with ADL disability and by 9.44 points in patients with poor pain management. Comprehensive and adequate diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to pain and disability are recommended in older adults with cancer to improve health-related QoL and impact aspects of health such as those assessed by the WHOQOL-OLD.