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Many older patients with glioblastoma face considerable hospitalization burden
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Strategies to reduce lengths of hospital stays are necessary to maintain quality of life for patients with glioblastoma who have short life expectancies, according to results of a retrospective cohort study.
A team of researchers led by Nils D. Arvold, MD, of the department of radiation oncology at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center, used the SEER–Medicare database to evaluate data from 5,029 patients aged 65 years and older who were diagnosed with glioblastoma between 1999 and 2007.
More than half (52%) of patients were aged 65 to 74 years, and 52% were men. Eighteen-percent of patients were treated with temozolomide, 26% underwent extensive resection and 72% were treated with radiotherapy. Median OS was 4.9 months.
The researchers determined 21% of patients experienced at least 30 cumulative days in the hospital between diagnosis and death, and 22% spent at least one-fourth of their remaining lives as inpatients.
Patients who were black (adjusted HR=1.56; 95% CI, 1.11-2.18) and those with a higher comorbidity score (adjusted HR=1.72; 95% CI, 1.42-2.07) were at increased risk for spending at least 25% of their remaining lives in the hospital.
Patients who underwent radiation treatment (adjusted HR=0.49; 95% CI, 0.42-0.58), received temozolomide (adjusted HR=0.31; 95% CI, 0.23-0.42) or underwent extensive surgery (adjusted HR=0.83; 95% CI, 0.69-0.99) were less likely to spend at least 25% of their remaining lives in the hospital.
Disclosure:See the study for a full list of the researchers’ relevant financial disclosures.
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