Interventions for older people having cancer treatment: A scoping review

There is currently no overview of supportive interventions developed for older people having cancer treatment. The aims and objectives, methods, and outcomes of interest of existing supportive interventions have not been evaluated. To understand how health services might meet the needs of older people undergoing cancer treatment, a scoping review was undertaken to identify and characterise supportive interventions developed for this patient group.

This scoping review examined supportive interventions (services, programs, tools or policies) applied during diagnosis or treatment that address physical, psychological, social or spiritual needs of older patients. A systematic search of the following electronic databases was undertaken August-October 2017 (updated March 2019): AMED; CINAHL; EMBASE; Medline; PsychINFO.

Sixty-two papers met the inclusion criteria. The review established that existing interventions to support older people having treatment for cancer are diverse in aim, and the evaluation methodology and outcome measure selection vary considerably. The interventions rarely target complex issues such as multimorbidity, frailty, or the impact of other geriatric syndromes in addition to cancer.

We suggest that future research should focus on patient populations with complex needs, including addressing comorbidity and age-associated conditions such as dementia.