Prevalence of self-reported falls, balance or walking problems in older cancer survivors from Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results-Medicare Health Outcomes Survey

Objective: To determine the prevalence of falls and balance/walking problems in the past 12 months among older cancer survivors before and after cancer diagnosis. Materials and Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional data from individuals aged >= 65 years with first primary cancer from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results and Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (SEER-MHOS) linkage (n = 12,659). The first MHOS completed by each survivor from 0 to 2 years before cancer diagnosis to 1-4 years after cancer diagnosis were included. We estimated unadjusted and demographic-adjusted prevalence of falls and balance/walking problems for each type of cancer during five one-year time periods before and after cancer diagnosis. Results: Adjusted prevalence of falls was significantly higher post-diagnosis than pre-diagnosis in prostate (12% during years 1-2 pre-diagnosis vs. 17%-20% during years 1-4 post-diagnosis)(p = 0.01) and lung cancer (17% during years 1-2 pre-diagnosis vs. 28% during years 1-2 post-diagnosis)(p = 0.019). Adjusted prevalence of balance/walking problems were significantly higher post-diagnosis than pre-diagnosis in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (26% during years 1-2 pre-diagnosis vs. 45% during years 1-2 post-diagnosis)(p = 0.012), breast (32% during years 1-2 pre-diagnosis vs. 41% during years 3-4 post-diagnosis)(p = 0.001), prostate (22% during years 1-2 pre-diagnosis vs. 28%-29% during years 1-4 post-diagnosis)(p = 0.012), and lung cancer (33% during years 1-2 pre-diagnosis vs. 40% during year 0-1 pre-diagnosis and 46% during years 1-2 post-diagnosis)(p = 0.018). Prevalence did not differ across time periods in other cancers. Conclusions: Falls and balance/walking problems may become more frequent after the diagnosis of some cancers. Screening, surveillance, and interventions need to consider functional deficits and cancer diagnosis. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.