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. 2024 Aug;43(8):1132-1143.
doi: 10.1177/07334648241233375. Epub 2024 Feb 12.

Comorbid Dementia and Cancer Therapy Decision-Making: A Scoping Review

Sean N Halpin  1 , Gabriel Alain  2 , Aaron Seaman  3 , Erin E Stevens  4 , Hui Zhao  5 , Mackenzie E Fowler  6 , Qiuyang Zhang  7 , Tamara Cadet  8 , Minzhi Ye  9 , Jessica L Krok-Schoen  2
Affiliations

Comorbid Dementia and Cancer Therapy Decision-Making: A Scoping Review

Sean N Halpin et al. J Appl Gerontol. 2024 Aug.

Abstract

Comorbid dementia complicates cancer therapy decision-making in older adults. We aimed to synthesize the recent literature (<5 years) on the challenges associated with cancer therapy decision-making among older people living with dementia (PLWD) and their caregivers. Of the 20,763 references, 8767 had their title and abstract screened, and eight met the inclusion criteria. Six studies were qualitative, one study employed mixed methods, and one study was quasi-experimental. Most studies were conducted in the UK (89%) and reported homogeneity in race and geography. Breast (56%) and prostate (45%) were the most frequent reported cancers. Five studies (56%) reported multiple types of dementia, with two (22%) indicating stages. The studies indicated that communication between patients, caregivers, and clinical teams might alleviate stress caused by worsening health prospects and potential ethical concerns. Information from this review can lead to better-informed, patient-centered treatment decision processes among older PLWD and cancer, their caregivers, and clinicians.

Keywords: cancer; decision-making; dementia; health communication; scoping review.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA flow diagram.
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