Identifying Clinically Important Functional Impairments and Rehabilitation Needs in Cancer Survivors and a Pilot Validation of the Cancer Rehabilitation Questionnaire.
Jia Min Yen, Ning Tang, Shuk In Tong and 1 others
PMID 36524559WHAT IT FOUND
Most cancer survivors reported functional impairments, with pain, weakness, and daily activity difficulty being most common.
A simple yes/no screening questionnaire detected clinically important physical dysfunction with moderate accuracy, but low willingness to participate in rehabilitation was a major barrier.
Key findings
0187.3% of participants reported at least one functional impairment, with pain, numbness/tingling, persistent fatigue, and weakness being the most frequently reported.
02Reporting three or more impairments on the screening questionnaire predicted clinically important physical dysfunction with 74.5% sensitivity and 58.5% specificity.
03Only 41.7% of participants had undergone or were seeking rehabilitation treatment, and more than half of those with impairments were not willing to participate.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
This was a pilot study in a single Singaporean outpatient clinic, so the results may not generalize to other populations or settings. The CRQ only asks yes/no questions and does not measure the severity of each impairment, which limits its ability to guide specific treatment decisions. There is significant overlap in the concepts covered by the CRQ items, and it does not assess social or vocational participation restrictions. The study relied on self-reported data, which can be influenced by recall bias or the patient's current mood.
Declared interests
The paper does not report any conflicts of interest or funding sources.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use the CRQ to determine the severity of a patient's condition or to prescribe specific exercises. It is a screening tool that counts the number of impairments present, not a measure of how badly those impairments affect the patient's daily life or capacity to exercise.