For a study, researchers sought to compare patients aged less than 80 to patients aged more than or equal to 80 in terms of postoperative outcome and quality of life (QOL). QoL was assessed in patients after surgery using the EORTC questionnaires QLQ-C30 and QLQ-LC13. The results were divided into 3 age groups: less than 70, 70 to 79, and more than or equal to 80. There were 106 patients in all, including 33 (<70), 25 (70-79), and 48 (≥80) patients in each group. The average age was 74 years old. About 79% of patients, including 91% under the age of more than or equal to 80, had minimally invasive operations. Wedge resections were performed on 15 individuals. All age groups had similar complication rates (18%, 32%, and 29%, respectively, P=.4) and median lengths of stay (4, 6, and 5 days, respectively, P=.2), with no hospital fatality. A total of 101 patients completed the surveys. The octogenarians had the best overall quality of life. Overall, octogenarians had higher functional and role QOL than those aged 70 to 79, and emotional QOL was higher than those aged less than 70 (P<.05). The social quality of life was slightly poorer than that of younger patients. Lung-specific symptom scores were 1.5 times smaller than those less than 80 (P=.052). The worst clinical and emotional effects of QOL were seen in patients aged 70 to 79. Surgical access and preoperative performance status did not impact end QOL in any age group (P=.9 and P=.065, respectively). In all domains, octogenarians had higher QOL than those aged 70 to 79, and in most domains, they had equivalent or higher QOL than those aged less than 70. Even after anatomical lung excision, the quality of life of octogenarians after surgery was comparable to that of younger patients. Surgery in octogenarians was safe and had little effect on postoperative quality of life.
Source:www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1525730421001418
