Incidence of cachexia in patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer at the beginning of rehabilitation intervention.
Yoshiteru Akezaki, Masato Kikuuchi, Kazunori Hamada and 1 others
PMID 32082021WHAT IT FOUND
At the start of rehabilitation, 57 of 96 advanced gastrointestinal cancer patients had cachexia and 16 had pre-cachexia.
The cachexia group had lower daily living scores and worse nutrition risk, so PTs and OTs may need to consider cachexia when choosing exercise load.
Key findings
01At the start of rehabilitation, 57 of 96 patients were classified in the cachexia group and 16 were classified in the pre-cachexia group.
02The cachexia group had lower total Barthel Index scores than the normal group and the pre-cachexia group.
03The cachexia group had lower nutritional risk index scores than the normal group and the pre-cachexia group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study measured patients only at the start of rehabilitation, so it cannot show how cachexia changed with therapy. It did not measure quality of life, skeletal muscle mass, or muscle strength, so the reasons for lower daily living scores are not established. All analysed patients had advanced-stage disease and came from one cancer centre, so results may not apply to earlier stages or other settings. Of 189 patients prescribed therapy, 96 were analysed, and the paper does not fully explain the missing cases.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The paper does not report funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the lower daily living scores as proof that cachexia caused them or that a specific exercise programme would help. The study measured patients only at the start of rehabilitation, did not measure muscle mass or quality of life, and did not test an intervention.