Registry of Older Patients With Cancer

Carolina Senior: UNC Registry for Older Cancer Patients

RATIONALE: Gathering information about older patients with cancer may help the study of cancer in the future.

PURPOSE: This research study is gathering information from older patients with cancer into a registry.

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

• To create a registry (to be called "Carolina Senior") of older patients with an appointment at North Carolina Cancer Hospital.
• To have these patients complete a Geriatric Assessment (GA).

Secondary

• To measure the response rates of GAs of Carolina Senior patients and their satisfaction with a GA by measuring the percentage of patients contacted who consent to complete the GA; the percentage of patients able to complete the self-administered portion of the GA without assistance; the length of time necessary to complete the GA; the variance and number of missing items; the percentage of GAs that contain all 3 of the following items: Timed Up and Go Assessment, Blessed Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test, and healthcare professional-rated Karnofsky performance status; and patient satisfaction with the questionnaire by identifying items that are distressing or too difficult to comprehend.
• To gather information, including patterns of patient care, that would lend support for future research in the 'Carolina Senior' population who receive a confirmed diagnosis of cancer (except for nonmelanoma skin cancer, cervical carcinoma in situ without evidence of disease, or prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia without evidence of prostate cancer).

OUTLINE: Patients complete a geriatric assessment, a multi-dimensional inter-disciplinary patient evaluation that includes an evaluation of a patient's functional status (ability to live independently at home and in the community), co-morbid medical conditions, cognition, psychological status, social functioning and support, medication review, and nutritional status. Patients' medical records are also reviewed. Patients' health status at 1 year is incorporated into the registry.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Patients must have an appointment at the North Carolina Cancer Hospital and agree to complete the Geriatric Assessment NOTE: Not all patients included in the registry will ultimately be diagnosed with cancer. Patients who complete a GA and are not diagnosed with cancer will remain in the database, but will be categorized into a separate group and will not have their medical records accessed.

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Able to read and speak English

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• Not specified