An automatic electronic frailty index inside the oncology record
Frailty is the strongest predictor of who will be harmed by treatment, but it is rarely measured. Software can estimate it automatically from existing records and flag patients who need a closer look.
Electronic frailty indices derived from coded diagnoses, prescriptions, and utilisation are used in primary care in England and predict outcomes well. An oncology version, computed automatically at referral and displayed with the staging information, would identify patients who should have a full geriatric assessment and would allow frailty-stratified outcome reporting. It requires validation against clinical frailty scales and treatment outcomes.
- Older and multimorbid patients are excluded and undertreated · Most people with cancer are over 65 but most trial patients are younger and fitter. We guess how to treat the majority.
- Data silos · Records, scans, genomes and outcomes sit in separate systems that cannot talk. Every patient's experience is lost to the next.
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not linked directly; found by shared links- IdeaGeriatrician co-management for older patients having cancer surgery
Shares Geriatric assessment, Older and multimorbid patients are excluded and undertreated.
- IdeaParallel real-world cohorts for sicker patients alongside every pivotal trial
Shares Geriatric assessment, Older and multimorbid patients are excluded and undertreated.
- IdeaStop screening by life expectancy, not birthday, with a tool in the record
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- Key paperGAP70+: a geriatric assessment before chemotherapy cut serious toxicity in older adults by a fifth
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- IdeaPragmatic trials in patients over 75 with function, not just survival, as the primary endpoint
Shares Geriatric assessment, Older and multimorbid patients are excluded and undertreated.
- IdeaA defined pathway for patients with both dementia and cancer
Shares Geriatric assessment, Older and multimorbid patients are excluded and undertreated.
- IdeaA mandatory over-70s cohort with geriatric assessment in every pivotal trial
Shares Geriatric assessment, Older and multimorbid patients are excluded and undertreated.
- IdeaHormone tablets instead of surgery for small breast cancers in the frail over-80s
Shares Geriatric assessment, Older and multimorbid patients are excluded and undertreated.