title: Quality of life in older and frail patients after surgery for colorectal cancer-A follow-up study.
abstract: The incidence of colorectal cancer is increasing, mainly due to the aging of the population. Frailty, describing a state of increased vulnerability, is common in older patients, but frailty and high age are not necessarily contraindications to surgical treatment. However, limited data describing long-term outcomes after surgery in this patient group exist. In this clinical follow-up study, we aimed to examine long-term health-related quality of life in older surgical patients with colorectal cancer.
  
  
  
  Patients were recruited from a prospective multicenter study investigating frailty as a predictor of postoperative complications after surgery for colorectal cancer. A preoperative geriatric assessment was performed, and patients were classified as frail or non-frail. Patients responded to version 3.0 of The European Organisation of Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30 before surgery, 3months postoperatively and at a long-term follow-up 16-28months (median 22months) after surgery. One-way repeated-measures analyses of variance were performed to examine changes in scores over time.
  
  
  
  180 patients with a mean age of 80years were included at baseline, 138 at 3months postoperatively, and 84 patients (69% of survivors) at long-term follow-up. A significant improvement in quality of life-scores was present 3months after surgery, also in the subgroup of frail patients. At long-term follow-up, scores decreased, but to values above baseline.
  
  
  
  Health-related quality of life may be improved in older patients after surgery for colorectal cancer, even in patients who are classified as frail preoperatively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, PB 4956, Nydalen, 0424 Oslo, Norway; Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, PB 1078, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: benedronning@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Benedicte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rønning
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, PB 4956, Nydalen, 0424 Oslo, Norway; Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, PB 1078, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: t.b.wyller@medisin.uio.no.
authors.forename: Torgeir Bruun
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Wyller
authors.affiliation: K.G. Jebsen Colorectal Cancer Research Centre, Oslo University Hospital, PB 4956, Nydalen, 0424 Oslo, Norway; Centre for Cancer Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, PB 1078, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway; Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Oslo University Hospital, PB 4956, Nydalen, 0424 Oslo, Norway; Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, PB 1078, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: arild.nesbakken@medisin.uio.no.
authors.forename: Arild
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nesbakken
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and General Practice, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, PB 8905, 7491 Trondheim, Norway. Electronic address: eva.skovlund@ntnu.no.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Skovlund
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, PB 1078, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway; Cancer Unit, Innlandet Hospital Trust, PB 104, 2381 Brumunddal, Norway. Electronic address: mjorhoy@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Marit Slaaen
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Jordhøy
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Akershus University Hospital, PB 1000, 1478 Lørenskog, Norway. Electronic address: arne.bakka@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Arne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bakka
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, PB 4956, Nydalen, 0424 Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: srostoft@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Siri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rostoft
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery*; D013505:Digestive System Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D016330:Frail Elderly; D000073496:Frailty / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life
keywords: Colorectal neoplasia; Colorectal surgery; Frail elderly; Quality of life