Background: There is a rise in multidisciplinary clinic (MDC) development at The James Comprehensive Cancer Center; allowing for simultaneous evaluations and functional assessment. Each clinic is comprised of a multidisciplinary team, including physical therapy. Benefits of MDCs are reduced travel, coordination of appointments, and increased value of the collaborative approach. This approach allows for early detection of patients’ functional status, which is a key indicator in cancer treatment decisions. Functional impairment is related to mortality and can be a predictor of severe toxicity with cancer treatments. The integration of physical therapy in MDCs can provide early identification of a decrease in functional status, allowing early intervention to prevent further functional decline throughout cancer treatment. Methods: Physical therapy (PT) is integrated in the cancer-aging resiliency and pancreatic clinics. A PT evaluation is completed, with the following outcomes obtained as listed in table 3. If any patients were deemed frail or a high fall risk, PT recommended continued therapy in the clinic or closer to their home. Results: The data was obtained via the electronic documentation system at our institution from 1/2019 -7/2021. The preliminary data demonstrates the majority of patients are female 61 years of age, with a large percentage of breast malignancy diagnosis. The 5X Sit to Stand Test averages are significantly higher than the normative value, demonstrating an increased fall risk. In addition, the SPPB averages were lower than the normative value, demonstrating increased fall risk and decreased mortality for these patients. Conclusion: The preliminary data (without correlation analysis) demonstrates that individuals who completed a PT evaluation in MDCs are at higher risk of falls and functional decline prior to and early into their cancer intervention. Therefore patients would benefit from continued integration PT in MDCs. The identification of patients who are at a high risk of falls, have increase mortality or a decreased functional status allows the physical therapist to provide recommendations for safe home setup/environment, referrals to other disciplines, and may initiate a physical therapy plan of care. Early interventions improve healthcare outcomes and decrease costs.
QIM22-206 Table 1.
QIM22-206 Table 2
QIM22-206 Table 3
QIM22-206 Table 4.01,6,10. Normative Data:
