Krans, Tim D. (2025) Ageing resiliently; determinants affecting physical resilience during cancer treatment in older patients. thesis, Medicine.
Full text available on request.Abstract
Background. Clinical decision-making in older patients with a malignancy can pose a major challenge. Older patients are extremely heterogeneous and recovery trajectories may differ greatly. A key ingredient of recovery is physical resilience, however much is still unknown of this novel construct. A better understanding of physical resilience could enable a more personalized approach to healthcare within geriatric oncology. Objective. To quantify physical resilience in older patients with cancer and investigate its determinants. Methods. A sub-cohort of the TENT study was used for this research. For 293 older patients with a malignancy, who were treated with chemotherapy, physical resilience was quantified using the expected recovery differential approach (ERD). Subsequently, a comparative, associative and survival analysis was conducted. Results. Patients were divided into tertiles, based on their degree of resilience. A significant difference between tertiles was observed for several oncological determinants (e.g. treatment intent, chemotherapy regimen). Furthermore, the ERD score was associated with various follow-up outcomes (mortality, chemotherapy toxicity, hospital readmissions, quality of life, dependency). An association was observed between greater resilience and fewer hospital readmissions, as well as a lower incidence of severe chemotherapy toxicity and less mortality. The more resilient, the better one’s health related quality of life and the more functionally independent at the end of follow-up. Conclusions. The ERD appears to measure physical resilience and in doing so being successful in quantifying this novel construct. One’s oncological status and treatment regimen appear to be a determinant of physical resilience. Additionally, a higher ERD, ergo greater physical resilience, is positively and significantly associated with better outcomes and recovery.
| Item Type: | Thesis (UNSPECIFIED) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Duin, Drs. Jan and Bos, Dr. Frederiek van den and Trompet, Dr. Stella and Abma, Drs. Elske Marije |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 01 Apr 2026 12:09 |
| Last Modified: | 01 Apr 2026 12:09 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3913 |
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