Abstract
Cancer is a condition that can increase the risk of frailty. In addition, palliative oncological patients in home hospitalization can find their activities of daily living affected. The main objective was to measure the degree of frailty in the oncological population in home hospitalization comparing Barthel and Frail-VIG Indexes. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. A sample of oncological patients in home hospitalization (n = 50) that included 27 men and 23 women were recruited, and disability due to frailty was measured using the VIG frailty index and the Barthel scale for Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). Spearman’s correlation coefficients were categorized as weak (rs ≤ 0.40), moderate (0.41 ≤ rs ≥ 0.69) or robust (0.70 ≤ rs ≥ 1.00), with a strong indirect correlation between the domains using the toilet, transferring and wandering on the Frail-VIG scale with an r (s) value −0.810 (p < 0.001), −0.831 (p < 0.001) and −0.805 (p < 0.001), respectively, and a moderate indirect correlation for the domains of eating −0.718 (p < 0.001), dressing −0.770 (p < 0.001) and urination −0.704 (<0.001). The Frail-VIG index above 0.35 points, that is, from moderate to severe, does not affect ADLs except in the nutritional dimension in a palliative oncological population in home hospitalization. The preliminary outcomes obtained should be considered to determine the impact of nutritional status with regard to ADLs in palliative oncological patients in a home hospitalization unit.
Highlights
There are many factors that have made cancer one of the main causes of death worldwide today; one of them is the increase in life expectancy since many cancers manifest in advanced age [1]
Fifty palliative cancer patients admitted to the Home Hospitalization Unit (HHU) were included at the time of data collection, in order to analyze frailty using the Frail-VIG Index
The sample included patients aged between 41 and 96 years old diagnosed with a palliative oncological disease, both men and women, who were being treated by the HHU team
Summary
There are many factors that have made cancer one of the main causes of death worldwide today; one of them is the increase in life expectancy since many cancers manifest in advanced age [1]. In Spain, the number of diagnosed cancers is expected to reach 276,239 in 2021, according to calculations by the Spanish Network of Cancer Registries (REDECAN) [5,6]. This indicates that, in many cases, palliative care will end up being one of the main resources [7]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
