Journal
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY
Volume 60, Issue 3, Pages 538-544Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL
DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03820.x
Keywords
older women; breast cancer; treatment decisions
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Funding
- National Institute on Aging [K23AG028584, K24AG035075]
- John A. Hartford Foundation
- Atlantic Philanthropies
- Starr Foundation
- American Federation for Aging Research
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OBJECTIVES: To identify factors that influence the breast cancer treatment decisions of women aged 80 and older. DESIGN: Medical record review. SETTING: One academic primary care clinic and two community health centers in Boston. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-five women aged 80 and older diagnosed with breast cancer between 1994 and 2004 and followed through June 30, 2010, MEASUREMENTS: Data were abstracted on breast cancer characteristics, comorbidities, treatments received, and outcomes. Notes from primary care physicians, oncologists, and breast surgeons were reviewed to determine factors involved in treatment decision-making. RESULTS: Median age at diagnosis was 84.0 (interquartile range 82.0-86.3), 55 (84.6%) were non-Hispanic white, and 40 (61.5%) had at least one comorbidity. Nine women were diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, 42 with a new primary invasive breast cancer, eight with a second primary, and six with a breast cancer recurrence. Sixty-three (96.9%) received some type of treatment. Fifty-six (86.2%) had at least one detailed physician note on treatment decision-making in their charts. The main categories found to influence participant, family, and physician treatment decision-making were tumor characteristics, ratio of treatment benefits to risks, logistics (e.g., transportation, finances), and participant age, health (including a concurrent diagnosis), and psychosocial characteristics. Family was involved in treatment discussions for 46 (70.8%) participants. CONCLUSION: The quality of physician documentation about decision-making in these women was high. A great amount of thoughtful and complex decision-making involving patients, family, and physicians occurs after a woman aged 80 and older is diagnosed with breast cancer. J Am Geriatr Soc 60:538-544, 2012.
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