Health-related quality of life in cancer survivors aged 65 and older: impact of diagnosis and treatment and perceived decline associated with aging.

PURPOSE: The health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among older adult cancer survivors can be influenced by physiological and psychosocial challenges stemming from treatment and disease experience. Despite assumptions that aging might exacerbate these difficulties, research indicates higher HRQOL in this subgroup compared to younger adult cancer survivors. OBJECTIVES: (i) to analyze HRQOL in this subgroup, contrasting with younger survivors and (ii) to explore potential moderating factors related to sociodemographic and disease variables. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 655 Spanish cancer survivors aged 65 or older from several medical centers and cancer patients' associations. HRQOL was assessed using the Quality of Life in Adult Cancer Survivors (QLACS) scale. Participants' data was compared with data from younger survivors (N = 772) [8] . Two Multivariate Variance Analyses (MANOVA) were performed to address the study objectives. RESULTS: Older adult survivors exhibited superior HRQOL across all explored domains (except family distress) compared to younger survivors. Predictors of HRQOL included age, primary cancer treatment, and time post-primary treatment. A significant interaction was noted between age and marital status. CONCLUSIONS: The observed higher HRQOL among older adult cancer survivors, particularly in domains seemingly unaffected by cancer, warrants cautious interpretation compared to their younger counterparts. In certain domains, the decline associated with aging might obscure or impede the perception of the true impact of cancer diagnosis and treatment.