Influence of Caregiver Presence during Physician Office Visits on Patients Undergoing Chemoradiotherapy for Esophageal Cancer

Abstract Objectives Though the association of marital status with outcomes for cancer patients has been widely studied, the mechanisms underpinning the protective effect of marriage are still not fully understood. The social support that marriage imparts is often discussed as an explanation for why married cancer patients have better outcomes. Social support has been difficult to objectively quantify. Patient accompaniment at physician visits may be more meaningful than marital status itself. This study investigated the effect of caregiver presence at physician visits on treatment tolerance and outcome in patients undergoing chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for esophageal cancer. Materials/Methods Patients diagnosed with esophageal cancer that underwent CRT from 1/1/2005 to 1/1/2016 as part of their curative-intent management were retrospectively reviewed. Data collected included the patients’ marital status, caregiver presence at each Patients were divided into two groups based on frequency of caregiver presence at physician visits ( Results 35 out of 59 patients were defined to have frequent caregiver presence at physician visits (caregiver was found to be present ≥50% all documented physician visits), while 24 patients were categorized as having infrequent caregiver accompaniment. No significant difference in performance status or weight loss prior to the diagnosis of esophageal cancer was found. Patients that had frequent caregiver presence at physician visits maintained body weight better than those that had infrequent caregiver presence (median weight loss of 2.7 kg compared to 4.9 kg, P = 0.04). There was no difference in overall survival between the two groups. Conclusion Though patients with esophageal cancer undergoing CRT that had frequent caregiver presence at physician visits were not found to have an overall survival benefit, they had less weight loss which may confer favorable treatment tolerance and maintenance of nutritional status during cancer treatment.