Associations between Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment criteria and all-cause mortality among cancer patients: Evidence from baseline and longitudinal analyses

Objectives

The prognostic effects of the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) criteria in cancer survivors have been observed but require validation in clinical practice. This study was designed to evaluate the prognostic effects of baseline and longitudinal changes in PG-SGA scores on all-cause mortality among Chinese cancer patients in a real-world setting.

Methods

Study patients were selected from one representative tertiary hospital in West China. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analyses were used to estimate the prognostic effect of baseline and dynamic changes in PG-SGA scores on the all-cause mortality of cancer patients. Receiver operating characteristic curves and a concordance index were used to evaluate the predictive accuracy of PG-SGA criteria.

Results

A total of 1415 cancer patients were included in this study, with a mean age of 46 years old. Cox regression analysis showed that baseline malnourished status was significantly associated with the survival of cancer patients (PG-SGA 4–8: hazard ratio [HR] = 1.46, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.09–1.96, P = 0.012; PG-SGA ≥9: HR = 1.78, 95% CI: 1.34–2.37, P < 0.001). Cancer patients with longitudinal increased PG-SGA scores (>2 points) were observed to have high risks for mortality (HR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.04–2.74, P = 0.033). Compared with longitudinal changes in PG-SGA scores, baseline malnourished status showed higher predictive power in identifying the risk subgroup (concordance index: 0.646 vs. 0.586). Sensitivity analyses supported the main findings.

Conclusions

This study highlights the prognostic value of baseline and dynamic changes in PG-SGA scores for cancer patients, which can help improve their outcomes.