Self-perception of aging may affect prognosis of elderly cancer patients

A study conducted at the University of Liège (Belgium) reveals that a change in people’s perception of the aging experience can go a long way towards improving their chances of surviving cancer, especially in elderly patients. , once the disease has been diagnosed. The study was published in CancerMedicine.

The corresponding author of the study, Sarah Schroyen, doctor at the University of Liège, says that the perception of age in the elderly can affect the outcome of therapy, which is confirmed by the results of the study. Being overly aware of one’s age increases the risk of death in elderly patients who have been diagnosed with cancer, according to Sarah Schroyen.

Three times more likely to die when feeling old

For this study, researchers followed for six years the medical records of 140 people aged 65 who had been diagnosed with non-metastatic cancer. At the end of the study, taking into account potentially influential factors, the researchers found that people who had a negative image of their aging were 3.62 times more likely to die than those who had a more positive perception. of their aging.

“This research underlines the importance of self-perception of aging for our health and reminds us of the need to change our attitudes towards the elderly,” says Sarah Schroyen.

According to her, while several studies have already shown how self-perception of age significantly predicts mental and physical health, in this case the team analyzed the effect of self-perception of age on mortality in a specific context: that of geriatric oncology.

The researcher concluded that the self-perception of age influences the mortality of the elderly in the specific context of oncology. Therefore, the need to change our attitudes towards aging and older people indirectly implied by these findings is discussed.

Better to have a good perception of his age

The results of the study confirm that self-perception of age has an influence on mortality, especially in elderly people with a negative self-perception of age. These results remain unchanged even after applying controls for age, sex, level of education and cognition, oncological information known by the patient (the site and type of cancer), as well as health. starting physical and mental.

According to Sarah Schroyen, although the study did not yield information regarding the cause of death, but only on self-perception of age, it remains relevant. “Having information on how we perceive our state of old age before the diagnosis and seeing if there is a change in the self-perception of age after it can lead to a better understanding of its mechanism. This perception could be malleable and potentially modified by different interventions”.

The researchers suggest that future studies be conducted to further analyze the effect of psychological intervention on self-perception of age. The fact that these findings need to be replicated and further developed was also emphasized by the research team.