Moving beyond Karnofsky and ECOG Performance Status Assessments with New Technologies

Progress in cancer research is coupled with increased treatment complexity reliant upon accurate patient selection. Oncologists rely upon measurement instruments of functional performance such as the Karnofsky or Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status scales that were developed over fifty years ago to determine a patient's suitability for systemic treatment. These standard assessment tools have been shown to correlate with response to chemotherapy, chemotherapy tolerability, survival, and quality of life of cancer patients. However, these scales are subjective, subject to bias and high interobserver variability. Despite these limitations important clinical decisions are based on PS including eligibility for clinical trials, the “optimal” therapeutic approach in routine practice, and the allocation of healthcare resources. This paper reviews the past, present, and potential future of functional performance status assessment in an oncology setting. The potential ability of electronic activity monitoring systems to provide an objective, accurate measurement of patient functional performance is explored. Electronic activity monitoring devices have the potential to offer positive health-related opportunities to patients; however their introduction to the healthcare setting is not without difficulty. The potential role of this technology in healthcare and the challenges that these new innovations pose to the healthcare industry are also examined.