Prehabilitation in Gynaecological Cancer Patients
Ovarian CancerOvarian Cancer Stage III3 morePrehabilitation refers to interventions aiming to improve patients' resilience and functional capacity before a known stressful event, e.g., scheduled surgery. These interventions usually consist of physical activity and psychological and nutritional support. There is substantial evidence of the positive effect of multimodal prehabilitation among patients treated surgically for non-gynaecological cancers; however, no prospective data are available in gynaecological cancer patients. PHOCUS trial is a prospective randomised trial aiming to evaluate the role of multimodal prehabilitation in patients with gynaecological cancer. Sixty-four patients will be randomised in single institution within 36 months with a 1:1 ratio into ARM A: control arm which will be provided with a basic information and standard of care support; ARM B: active arm undergoing multimodal prehabilitation composed of physical activity and psychological and nutritional support. All patients will be assessed at standard intervals (three times during the trial) by a spectrum of non-invasive tests, evaluating physical functional capacity, postoperative morbidity, nutritional status, level of stress and anxiety, and quality of life.
Frailty Assessment and Intervention in Elderly Patients With Gastric Cancer Receiving Gastrectomy...
Gastric CancerGastric cancer ranks among the top ten leading causes of death in Taiwan. Radical surgery is the sole curative method for gastric cancer. However, our previous research has revealed that elderly gastric cancer patients undergoing radical surgery face a significantly elevated risk of postoperative complications. Even after gastric cancer resection, only 70% of patients receive adjuvant chemotherapy, with a particularly low likelihood among those aged ≥ 65 to undergo such treatment. With the increasing elderly population in our country, an increasing number of elderly gastric cancer patients must decide whether they can withstand radical surgery for gastric cancer and whether to undergo adjuvant chemotherapy. Therefore, increasing the rates of elderly gastric cancer patients undergoing radical surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy, as well as improving the success rate of chemotherapy, has become a critical issue. Frailty has been a frequent topic in geriatric medicine in recent years. It involves assessing multifaceted aspects of physical functioning to determine an individual's frailty status, which can help predict the likelihood of severe side effects from medical interventions. International organizations like the American Cancer Society recommend frailty assessment for all elderly cancer patients before undergoing chemotherapy and corresponding interventions to address frailty. However, there is a lack of large-scale studies on frailty assessment and its practical clinical benefits in our population. This study is a prospective, open-label, randomized clinical trial designed to investigate the impact of geriatric intervention on the tolerance of surgery/chemotherapy in patients diagnosed with gastric cancer. As part of the study protocol, all enrolled patients will undergo a comprehensive frailty assessment within a window of 7 days before initiating their first treatment, followed by tailored geriatric interventions. The primary objective of this study is to assess and compare the effects of geriatric intervention on postoperative complications, chemotherapy tolerance, treatment-related toxicity, and overall quality of life among two distinct groups: frail and non-frail patients. Our research team aims to promote widespread frailty assessment and interventions with the following objectives: Reduce the probability of postoperative complications among elderly gastric cancer patients receiving surgery. Enhance the tolerance and success rate of adjuvant chemotherapy for gastric cancer. These efforts ultimately aim to improve the survival prognosis of this patient group.
Qigong to Improve Frailty Among Older Cancer Survivors
CancerFrailty2 moreThe objective of the study is to examine the effects of a 16-week Baduanjin qigong intervention on frailty, physical performance, psychological well-being, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among post-treatment older cancer survivors. This will be a randomized controlled, assessor-blind trial conforming to the CONSORT guidelines. A total of 226 cancer survivors aged over 65 who have completed curative treatment and screened as pre-frail or frail will be recruited and randomized into intervention and control groups. It is expected that upon intervention completion, the intervention group will demonstrate greater reversed frailty status, more improvements in physical performance, better psychological well-being, and enhanced HRQoL compared to the control group. Study instruments will be Fried Phenotype Criteria, Edmonton Frail Scale, Short Physical Performance Battery, Geriatric Depression Scale, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Core Questionnaire, and a background questionnaire. The intervention comprises of 1-hour qigong group training twice a week for 8 weeks, then 1-hour weekly follow-up group practice for 8 weeks and self-practice. The control group participants will attend light flexibility exercise group sessions at the same duration and frequency as the intervention group. Intention-to-treat analysis will be performed.
Prehabilitation of Elderly Patients With Frailty Syndrome Before Elective Surgery (PRAEP-GO)
FrailtyFrail ElderlyThe aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of a shared decision-making conference and three-week prehabilitation program on the outcome "care dependency" one year after surgery. The cost-effectiveness of the intervention will also be evaluated in this N = 1400 patient, national multicenter, assessor-blinded, randomized, pragmatic, controlled, parallel-group, clinical trial. The objective of PRÄP-GO is to establish and employ a suitable preoperative case-care management system to improve the short and long-term outcome of elderly surgical patients with signs of a frailty syndrome, improving postoperative quality of life and reducing care dependency by a three-week individualized prehabilitation program.
Enhancing Voluntary Motion in Broad Patient Populations With Modular Powered Orthoses
Lower-limb OrthosesFrailty/Sarcopenia1 moreThe overall goal of this project is to develop modular, lower-limb, powered orthoses that fit to user-specific weakened joints and control force/torque in a manner that enhances voluntary motion in broad patient populations. This project aims to establish feasibility of assisting different populations with these modular powered orthoses. The investigators hypothesize that assisting lower-limb musculature with modular powered orthoses will improve 1) lifting/lowering posture in able-bodied subjects and 2) functional outcomes in elderly subjects.
ACP in Older Patients With Multimorbidity: a Randomized Pilot
Advance Care PlanningMultimorbidity5 moreRationale A recent study into the patient perspective of patients with multiple chronic conditions in the Netherlands underlines the strain multimorbidity can put on people. Most patients would appreciate more coordination from and communication with their care providers. This call for better coordination of needs and preferences ties into the concept of Advance Care Planning (ACP). ACP is a structured process of communication in which patients and physicians discuss and, if applicable, document health preferences and goals of patients regarding their last phase in life. Most ACP studies have been performed amongst older, terminally ill patients with the main aim of establishing patients' preferences before they lose capacity. We want to investigate the potential of ACP to increase patient empowerment in a population of competent patients with multimorbidity, who are not necessarily in their last phase of life. The distribution of healthcare expenditure among the population requiring care is skewed. In the Netherlands the top-10% most cost incurring patients account for 68% of expenditure. Many of these patients receive unnecessary or ineffective care, with a recent study estimating preventable spending at 10%. High-Need High-Cost patients comprise a very heterogeneous group, yet one common denominator explaining high cost is the high prevalence of multiple chronic conditions. Both overtreatment and conflicting treatment are legitimate concerns within this population. As multimorbidity and frailty increase with age, the older patient with multimorbidity is especially at risk. Targeted care programmes have been developed under the assumption that better coordination will lead to a reduction in healthcare utilization. However, although care might be identified as preventable or inefficient from a medical point of view, this is not necessarily the case from a patient perspective. We are interested how patients experience such care and thereby if better coordination would indeed lead to a reduction in utilization. Because ACP supports patients in timely recognition and better expression of their needs and preferences, we hypothesize that care will address those needs and preferences more adequately, which will result in improved patient assessment of care. We further hypothesize that patient empowerment will enable better planning of care and decision making, which can result in less unwanted or preventable interventions. As a consequence healthcare utilization might decrease. However, another possibility is that rather than leading to a decrease, improved empowerment may lead to an increase in utilization because care which is deemed superfluous from a medical perspective might not be perceived as such by patients. Objective The primary objective of our pilot study is to assess the feasibility of a formal Randomized Controlled Trial. Our secondary pilot objectives are to collect data on patient experience of healthcare, patient engagement, cost-effectiveness, and other data that might inform the design of a full-scale RCT. Study design Randomized pilot study Study population Patients over 65 years of age with polypharmacy, multimorbidity and multiple hospitalizations and/or ER admissions in the past year Intervention One of the most well-researched ACP programmes is the Respecting Choices Programme. In this programme, a trained facilitator encourages patients to reflect on their goals, values and beliefs, to discuss and document their future choices, and to appoint a surrogate decision maker. The programme was translated to the Dutch context in previous studies in the nursing home setting and oncology care. Patients randomized to receive ACP will have two meetings with a trained facilitator within two months. Main study parameters/endpoints Primary: trial-feasibility is defined as the successful inclusion of 50 patients in total, timely administration of the intervention in 25 patients, adherence to follow-up procedures and identification of problems or barriers during recruitment, inclusion, intervention administration and follow-up. Secondary: main outcome for cost-effectiveness is total duration and number of hospital admissions, as a proxy for both costs and effects (iMCQ). In order to inform a future cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), data on health-related quality of life (EQ5D-5L) will also be collected. Our outcomes for patient assessment of care and patient empowerment are the PACIC questionnaire, the ACP Engagement Survey and the appointment of a surrogate decision maker and/or the documentation of advance directives.
Nutrition and Exercise Interventions in Reducing Androgen Deprivation Therapy-Induced Obese Frailty...
Cancer SurvivorObesity18 moreThis trial studies how well nutrition and exercise interventions work in reducing androgen deprivation therapy-induced obese frailty in prostate cancer survivors. Individualized nutrition and exercise advice for prostate cancer patients on androgen deprivation therapy may help to reduce obese frailty and change the levels of myokines in blood.
Quality of Life of Frail Aged Patients in Incremental Hemodialysis
Renal DialysisKidney Failure2 moreEnd stage renal disease (ESRD) is a major public health problem. The dialysis population is aging. As a result we observe a high prevalence of frailty among dialysis patients (ranges from 3 to 10 fold higher than in the comparably aged general public). Frailty is a medical syndrome characterized by diminished strength, endurance, and reduced physiologic function that increases an individual's vulnerability for developing increased dependency and/or death. Without systematic approach it is difficult for physicians to detect frailty phenotype which however might be reversible or attenuated by interventions. Fried et al. developed a frailty phenotype consisting of 3 or more of: unintentional weight loss, exhaustion, physical inactivity, slow gait speed, and weak grip strength. The primary care of hemodialysis patient is often supported by the nephrologist. Identification of frailty is integrated into the primary care setting as one of the steps necessary for the overall assessment of the person and planning to formal prevention interventions in an individualized care plan. Thrice-weekly hemodialysis (HD) schedules are the standard default hemodialysis prescription in Western countries, imposed in the 70s. For incremental HD, the weekly dose of dialysis is based on variety of clinical factors such as residual kidney function, volume status, cardiovascular symptoms, potassium level, nutritional status and, comorbid conditions. Incremental HD scheme generally starts with 2 weekly sessions and then periodic monitoring of criteria mentioned above are used to determine the timing for increasing dialysis dose and frequency to 3 weekly sessions. An approach that integrates systematic frailty phenotype assessment by nephrologists and individualized incremental HD therapy can be beneficial within the first year of HD. It could optimize health-related quality of life and other pertinent outcomes without affecting negatively the quality of dialysis. The purpose of this study is to evaluate for frail aged incidents hemodialysis patients the impact of implementation of an incremental HD on HRQoL compared to conventional HD.
The Application of the Transtheoretical Model to the Frailty Elderly in the Community
FrailtyAs the age structure shows an aging population while facing physical and mental changes among the frailty of the community elderly. Researchers have successively adopted exercise and nutrition strategies for the frail elderly in the community, to improve their physical function, prevent frailty and increase independent functions. There were researches using technology to improve the physical function of the elderly in the community. The transtheoretical model was a comprehensive model of intentional behavior change that incorporates process-oriented variables to explain and predict how and when the elderly change their health behavior including the elderly adoption healthy behavior. Therefore, the investigators use the Trans-Theoretical Model (TTM) to design the "Fitness and Nutrition Program for Seniors" for participants. From improving physical activity and quality of life, then improving the frailty and restoring overall health. The research will be a quasi-experimental design. It is expected to invite 84 frailty elderly from the Community-Based Care Center (42 in the experimental group and 42 in the control group). The investigators use the Trans-Theoretical Model (TTM) as the framework, which includes physical activity training, nutrition education- nursing Information, home-based training, and telecare group care, develop the "Fitness and Nutrition Program for Seniors" for 6 months. The primary outcome includes cardiovascular health study (CHS) frailty criteria, short physical performance battery (SPPB), grip strength, Timed Up and Go Test (TUG), the international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ), and SF-12. The secondary outcome includes BMI, upper arm and calf circumference to measure nutritional status, short from falls efficacy scale international (FES-I), the visual analog scale (VAS) to measure pain, and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). The investigator will follow the outcome before the intervention, the third month after the intervention, and the sixth month after the intervention. The collected data were analyzed with a generalized estimation equation model of SPSS version 22. Make the participants develop a habit of physical activity combined with a nutritious diet. Let the elderly reduce frail state, increase physical activity, improve health-related quality of life and improve health-related results.
KORE-Innovation: a Prospective, Multi-site Clinical Trial to Implement and Analyse the Effects of...
Ovary CancerFallopian Tube Cancer2 moreKORE-Innovation is a multi-center clinical study aiming to implement and analyze an innovative care pathway to reduce perioperative complications for patients undergoing surgical treatment for ovarian cancer. This is achieved by a structured, multidisciplinary implementation of the ERAS pathway, as well as introducing a tri-modal prehabilitation program, following a comprehensive frailty-assessment. The patient-individualized prehabilitation program consists of a structured plan to improve physical fitness, nutritional status, as well as patient empowerment. The aim of the study is to reduce perioperative morbidity and mortality, as well as improvement in quality of life.