Frailty and Myosteatosis in Older Adults with Cancer
Author Information
Author(s): Papadopoulos Efthymios, Wong Andy Kin On, Law Sharon Hiu Ching, Costa Sarah, Cheung Angela M., Rozenberg Dmitry, Alibhai Shabbir M. H.
Primary Institution: University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
Hypothesis
Does myosteatosis improve the predictive ability of frailty for all-cause mortality in older adults undergoing chemotherapy?
Conclusion
Myosteatosis improves the performance of frailty for predicting all-cause mortality in older adults with cancer.
Supporting Evidence
- Frailty was a significant predictor of all-cause mortality with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.68.
- Myosteatosis was associated with a two-fold risk of all-cause mortality.
- The combination of frailty and myosteatosis improved predictive performance for mortality.
- 81.4% of frail participants had myosteatosis.
- Median survival time was significantly different between frail and non-frail participants.
Takeaway
This study found that older adults with cancer who have both frailty and myosteatosis are at a higher risk of dying, and myosteatosis helps predict this risk better.
Methodology
A retrospective cohort study assessing frailty and myosteatosis in older adults (≥65 years) undergoing chemotherapy, using a frailty index and CT scans.
Potential Biases
Potential biases due to the retrospective design and lack of physical activity data.
Limitations
The study's retrospective nature limits causation inference, and the sample size may affect the generalizability of the results.
Participant Demographics
Mean age of participants was 77.1 years, with 71.3% male.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.037 for frailty, 0.032 for myosteatosis
Confidence Interval
95% CI = 1.03–2.72 for frailty, 95% CI = 1.07–4.30 for myosteatosis
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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