Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Frailty in Older Adults over the Spectrum of Cancer: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Background: The interplay between different neuropsychiatric conditions, beyond dementia, in the presence of a diagnosis of cancer in older adults may mediate patients’ fitness and cancer-related outcomes. Here, we aimed to investigate the presence of depression, sleep disturbances, anxiety, attitude, motivation, and support in older adults receiving a diagnosis of cancer and the dimension of frailty in order to understand the magnitude of the problem. Methods: This review provides an update of the state of the art based on references from searches of PubMed between 2000 and June 2021. Results: The evidence obtained underscored the tight association between frailty and unfavorable clinical outcomes in older adults with cancer. Given the intrinsic correlation of neuropsychiatric disorders with frailty in the realm of cancer survivorship, the evidence showed they might have a correlation with unfavorable clinical outcomes, late-life geriatric syndromes and higher degree of frailty. Conclusions: The identification of common vulnerabilities among neuropsychiatric disorders, frailty, and cancer may hold promise to unmask similar shared pathways, potentially intercepting targeted new interventions over the spectrum of cancer with the delivery of better pathways of care for older adults with cancer.