Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Nov;11(11):1503-1511.
doi: 10.21037/tau-22-408.

Association of grit and overall survival in patients undergoing nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma

Eric R Midenberg #  1 , Benjamin N Schmeusser #  1 , Arnold Palacios  1 , Kristin Larsen  2 , Dattatraya H Patil  1 , Ben Petrinec  1 , Ben Croll  1 , Thien-Linh Le  1 , Gordon Hong  3 , Fangyi Rose Lin  1 , Kaleena Jesson  1 , Grace Lee  1 , Frances Y Kwon  1 , Kenneth Ogan  1 , Viraj A Master  1
Affiliations

Association of grit and overall survival in patients undergoing nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma

Eric R Midenberg et al. Transl Androl Urol. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Quantifying grit with the Short Grit Scale (Grit-S) has shown ability to predict success in various academic and professional domains. Grit has yet to be analyzed in patients with cancer.

Methods: This study is a longitudinal analysis of prospectively distributed Grit-S surveys to patients undergoing radical or partial nephrectomy. Patients who completed a preoperative Grit-S survey with confirmed renal cell carcinoma (RCC) were included in the analysis. The relationship between preoperative grit scores and overall survival (OS) was determined using Cox proportional-hazard models and Kaplan-Meier analysis.

Results: A total of 323 patients with RCC that completed the Grit-S survey prior to nephrectomy were included in the study. Median Grit score was 3.9. Most patients were male (67.5%), White (69.3%), and greater than 60 years old (57.0%) with a median age of 62 at the time of surgery. Patients scoring above or below the median grit score had similar baseline characteristics. As a binary variable, lower preoperative grit was significantly associated with shorter OS [hazard ratio (HR) =2.02, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.12-3.63, P=0.019] on multivariable analysis. Unit changes in grit were not significantly associated with OS (HR =0.77, 95% CI: 0.53-1.14, P=0.193).

Conclusions: Lower grit scores may predict decreased OS in RCC patients undergoing nephrectomy. The Grit-S survey may have utility in preoperative evaluation. Further research assessing grit in other malignancies and how to psychologically optimize patients prior to surgery are needed.

Keywords: Grit; Short Grit Scale (Grit-S); cancer; nephrectomy; renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://tau.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/tau-22-408/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Kaplan-Meier survival curve displaying association between overall survival time and total Grit Score.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mitchell AJ, Chan M, Bhatti H, et al. Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorder in oncological, haematological, and palliative-care settings: a meta-analysis of 94 interview-based studies. Lancet Oncol 2011;12:160-74. 10.1016/S1470-2045(11)70002-X - DOI - PubMed
    1. Packiam VT, Tyson Ii MD, Tsivian M, et al. The association of anxiety and depression with perioperative and oncologic outcomes among patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma undergoing nephrectomy. Urol Oncol 2020;38:41.e19-27. 10.1016/j.urolonc.2019.10.017 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hartung TJ, Brähler E, Faller H, et al. The risk of being depressed is significantly higher in cancer patients than in the general population: Prevalence and severity of depressive symptoms across major cancer types. Eur J Cancer 2017;72:46-53. 10.1016/j.ejca.2016.11.017 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Niedzwiedz CL, Knifton L, Robb KA, et al. Depression and anxiety among people living with and beyond cancer: a growing clinical and research priority. BMC Cancer 2019;19:943. 10.1186/s12885-019-6181-4 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Andrykowski MA, Lykins E, Floyd A. Psychological health in cancer survivors. Semin Oncol Nurs 2008;24:193-201. 10.1016/j.soncn.2008.05.007 - DOI - PMC - PubMed