COMy 2023 | Factors to consider regarding frailty assessment in elderly patients with myeloma
Heinz Ludwig, MD, Wilhelminen Cancer Research Institute, Wilhelminenspital, Vienna, Austria, discusses the challenges associated with assessing frailty in patients with multiple myeloma. Prof. Ludwig explains that assessment techniques must balance both practicability and prognostic precision, as older patients may often be unable to complete cumbersome questionnaires. Prof. Ludwig therefore recommends using simplified assessment scales for prognostication in this patient group. This interview took place at the 9th World Congress on Controversies in Multiple Myeloma (COMy) 2023, held in Paris, France.
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Transcript (edited for clarity)
This is a difficult question because we just had during the COMy meeting a discussion of which tool should be used and which tool gives you better information about that. So it’s a bargain about practicability and prognostic precision. And I think if you ask clinicians, they would prefer tools which are easy to use in patients, particularly in elderly patients. Because if you have if an elderly patient, let’s say 85 years, has to go through different questionnaires, it’s probably too cumbersome...
This is a difficult question because we just had during the COMy meeting a discussion of which tool should be used and which tool gives you better information about that. So it’s a bargain about practicability and prognostic precision. And I think if you ask clinicians, they would prefer tools which are easy to use in patients, particularly in elderly patients. Because if you have if an elderly patient, let’s say 85 years, has to go through different questionnaires, it’s probably too cumbersome. So a simple one, the simplified frailty tool from the IMF using just two parameters is probably the way to go, particularly in elderly and frail patients.
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