TY - JOUR
T1 - Association of Lower Extremity Lymphedema with Physical Functioning and Activities of Daily Living among Older Survivors of Colorectal, Endometrial, and Ovarian Cancer
AU - Zhang, Xiaochen
AU - McLaughlin, Eric M.
AU - Krok-Schoen, Jessica L.
AU - Naughton, Michelle
AU - Bernardo, Brittany M.
AU - Cheville, Andrea
AU - Allison, Matthew
AU - Stefanick, Marcia
AU - Bea, Jennifer W.
AU - Paskett, Electra D.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding/Support: The WHI (Women’s Health Initiative) program is funded by contracts HHSN268201600018C, HHSN268201600001C, HHSN268201600002C, HHSN268201600003C, and HHSN268201600004C from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services. The WHI Life and Longevity after Cancer (LILAC) study is funded by grant UM1 CA173642 from the National Cancer Institute and a grant to Dr Paskett from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. This work was supported by grant F99CA253745 from the National Cancer Institute to Ms Zhang.
Funding Information:
Administrative, technical, or material support: Naughton, Bernardo, Bea, Paskett. Supervision: Cheville, Allison, Stefanick, Paskett. Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr. Naughton reported receiving grants from Merck Foundation outside the submitted work. Dr. Allison reported receiving grants from the National Institutes of Health during the conduct of the study. Dr. Paskett reported receiving grants from Merck Foundation and Pfizer outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Armand Colin. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/3/9
Y1 - 2022/3/9
N2 - Importance: Lower extremity lymphedema (LEL) is associated with decreased physical functioning (PF) and activities of daily living (ADLs) limitations. However, the prevalence of LEL in older survivors of cancer is unknown. Objectives: To examine LEL among older female survivors of colorectal, endometrial, or ovarian cancer and investigate the association of LEL with PF and ADLs. Design, Setting, and Participants: This secondary analysis of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Life and Longevity After Cancer (LILAC) study was conducted using data from postmenopausal women enrolled at 40 US centers. Participants were women who had a prior diagnosis of endometrial, colorectal, or ovarian cancer and who had completed the WHI LILAC baseline and year 1 follow-up questionnaires as of September 2017. Exposures: The 13-item Lower Extremity Lymphedema Screening Questionnaire in Women was used to determine LEL (ie, score ≥5). Main Outcomes and Measures: Validated surveys were used to assess PF and ADLs. Results: Among 900 older women diagnosed with endometrial, colorectal, or ovarian cancer, the mean (SD) age was 78.5 (5.9) years and the mean (range) time since cancer diagnosis was 8.75 (1.42-20.23) years. Overall, 292 women (32.4%) reported LEL, with the highest LEL prevalence among survivors of ovarian cancer (38 of 104 women [36.5%]), followed by survivors of endometrial cancer (122 of 375 women [32.5%]) and colorectal cancer (132 of 421 women [31.4%]). Compared with women without LEL, women with LEL had a PF score that was lower by a mean (SE) 16.8 (1.7) points (P <.001) and higher odds of needing help with ADLs (odds ratio [OR], 2.45; 95% CI, 1.64-3.67). In the association of LEL with PF, the mean (SE) decrease in PF score was greatest among survivors of colorectal cancer (-21.8 [2.6]) compared with survivors of endometrial cancer (-13.3 [2.7]) and ovarian cancer (-12.8 [5.2]). Additionally, among survivors of colorectal cancer, LEL was associated with increased odds of needing help with ADLs (OR, 3.59; 95% CI, 1.94-6.66), while there was no such association among survivors of endometrial cancer or ovarian cancer. However, there were no interaction associations between LEL and cancer type for either outcome. Additionally, the overall mean (SE) difference in PF between women with and without LEL was greater among those aged 80 years and older (-19.4 [2.6] points) vs those aged 65 to 79 years (-14.9 [2.2] points). However, among survivors of colorectal cancer, the mean (SE) difference in PF score was greater among women aged 65 to 79 years (-22.9 [3.7] points) vs those aged 80 years or older (-20.8 [3.7] points) (P for 3-way interaction =.03). Conclusions and Relevance: This study found that nearly one-third of older female survivors of colorectal, endometrial, or ovarian cancer experienced LEL and that LEL was associated with decreased PF and increased odds of needing help with ADLs. These findings suggest that clinicians may need to regularly assess LEL among older survivors of cancer and provide effective interventions to reduce LEL symptoms and improve PF for this population..
AB - Importance: Lower extremity lymphedema (LEL) is associated with decreased physical functioning (PF) and activities of daily living (ADLs) limitations. However, the prevalence of LEL in older survivors of cancer is unknown. Objectives: To examine LEL among older female survivors of colorectal, endometrial, or ovarian cancer and investigate the association of LEL with PF and ADLs. Design, Setting, and Participants: This secondary analysis of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Life and Longevity After Cancer (LILAC) study was conducted using data from postmenopausal women enrolled at 40 US centers. Participants were women who had a prior diagnosis of endometrial, colorectal, or ovarian cancer and who had completed the WHI LILAC baseline and year 1 follow-up questionnaires as of September 2017. Exposures: The 13-item Lower Extremity Lymphedema Screening Questionnaire in Women was used to determine LEL (ie, score ≥5). Main Outcomes and Measures: Validated surveys were used to assess PF and ADLs. Results: Among 900 older women diagnosed with endometrial, colorectal, or ovarian cancer, the mean (SD) age was 78.5 (5.9) years and the mean (range) time since cancer diagnosis was 8.75 (1.42-20.23) years. Overall, 292 women (32.4%) reported LEL, with the highest LEL prevalence among survivors of ovarian cancer (38 of 104 women [36.5%]), followed by survivors of endometrial cancer (122 of 375 women [32.5%]) and colorectal cancer (132 of 421 women [31.4%]). Compared with women without LEL, women with LEL had a PF score that was lower by a mean (SE) 16.8 (1.7) points (P <.001) and higher odds of needing help with ADLs (odds ratio [OR], 2.45; 95% CI, 1.64-3.67). In the association of LEL with PF, the mean (SE) decrease in PF score was greatest among survivors of colorectal cancer (-21.8 [2.6]) compared with survivors of endometrial cancer (-13.3 [2.7]) and ovarian cancer (-12.8 [5.2]). Additionally, among survivors of colorectal cancer, LEL was associated with increased odds of needing help with ADLs (OR, 3.59; 95% CI, 1.94-6.66), while there was no such association among survivors of endometrial cancer or ovarian cancer. However, there were no interaction associations between LEL and cancer type for either outcome. Additionally, the overall mean (SE) difference in PF between women with and without LEL was greater among those aged 80 years and older (-19.4 [2.6] points) vs those aged 65 to 79 years (-14.9 [2.2] points). However, among survivors of colorectal cancer, the mean (SE) difference in PF score was greater among women aged 65 to 79 years (-22.9 [3.7] points) vs those aged 80 years or older (-20.8 [3.7] points) (P for 3-way interaction =.03). Conclusions and Relevance: This study found that nearly one-third of older female survivors of colorectal, endometrial, or ovarian cancer experienced LEL and that LEL was associated with decreased PF and increased odds of needing help with ADLs. These findings suggest that clinicians may need to regularly assess LEL among older survivors of cancer and provide effective interventions to reduce LEL symptoms and improve PF for this population..
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U2 - 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.1671
DO - 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.1671
M3 - Article
C2 - 35262713
AN - SCOPUS:85126077927
VL - 5
JO - JAMA network open
JF - JAMA network open
SN - 2574-3805
IS - 3
M1 - e221671
ER -