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Our findings suggest that opinions concerning artificial nutrition and hydration not only derive from scientific background, but also relate to cultural, ethical, and psychological issues. Our results also reveal important differences between physicians' and nurses' opinions, providing useful information for interpreting and overcoming obstacles to the effective cooperation between these professionals.

The findings of the present study showed that AN creates more ethical dilemmas in the clinical management of end of life than other treatments, such as AH or AT. Opinions on whether or not these practices are appropriate at the end of life were related with feelings, thoughts and ethical issues that played a different part for physicians and nurses. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 487-493.

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The Multidimensional Geriatric Assessment (MGA) is currently used for assessing geriatric oncological patients, but a new prognostic index ‐ the Multidimensional Prognostic Index (MPI) ‐ has a demonstrated prognostic value in cancer patients too. The present work was designed to compare the MPI and MGA as predictors of 12‐month mortality. 160 patients ≥70 years old with locally‐advanced or metastatic solid cancers consecutively joining our Geriatric Oncology Program were administered a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment to calculate their MGA and MPI scores. Settings: Geriatric Clinic, Geriatric Surgery Clinic, Medical Oncology Unit, Padova Hospital, Italy. Using Cohen's Kappa coefficient, there was a poor concordance between the MPI and MGA. Severe MPI being associated with a higher mortality risk than Frail in the MGA. The ROC curves indicated that the MPI had a greater discriminatory power for 12‐month mortality than the MGA. In our population of elderly cancer patients, the MPI performed better than the MGA in predicting mortality. Further evidence from larger prospective trials is needed to establish whether other geriatric scales, such as the GDS and CIRS‐SI, could enhance the value of prognostic indexes applied to elderly cancer patients.

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