Abstract
Background. Inpatient medical oncology has not been properly described in many countries including Turkey.Methods. We aimed in this article to describe the admissions to a medical oncology inpatient service within a 2-year period with respect to patient characteristics, their malignancies, and outcome of admission.Results. A total of 5305 cancer patients were seen at our hospital, and 779 (14.7%) were hospitalized. The most common reason for admission was chemotherapy administration (81.2%). The median number of hospitalizations was 1 (range, 1–21). The length of stay was between 1 to 189 days with a median of 4 days. Most of the hospitalizations resulted in discharge; few patients died (77 patients; 9.9% of the hospitalized patients and 4.4% of the hospitalizations).Conclusions. Inpatient care constitutes an important aspect of medical oncology. Given the high rate of hospitalization for chemotherapy administration and the rising cost of inpatient care, it is evident that a shift from inpatient care to outpatient care (day hospital or ambulatory) is urgently needed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Lutz JM, Francisci S, Mugno E, et al, and the EUROPREVAL Working Group Cancer prevalence in Central Europe: the EUROPREVAL study. Ann Oncol. 2003;14:313–322.
Remontet L, Esteve J, Bouvier AM, et al. Cancer incidence and mortality in France over the period 1978–2000. Rev Epidemiol Sante Publique. 2003;51(pt 1):3–30.
Yang L, Parkin DM, Li L, et al. Time trends in cancer mortality in China: 1987–1999. Int J Cancer 2003;106:771–783.
Jemal A, Tiwari RC, Murray T, et al. Cancer statistics, 2004. CA Cancer J Clin. 2004;54:8–29.
Wilson CM, Tobin S, Young RC The exploding worldwide cancer burden: the impact of cancer on women. Int J Gynaecol Cancer. 2004;14:1–11.
Aziz NM, Rowland JH. Trends and advances in cancer survivorship research: challenge and opportunity. Semin Radiat Oncol. 2003;13:248–266.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Cancer survivorship—United States, 1971–2001. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2004;25;53:526–529.
Morgan CL, Kerr MP Estimated cost of inpatient admissions and outpatient appointments for a population with epilepsy: a record linkage study. Epilepsia. 2004;45:849–854.
Dodel RC, Haacke C, Zamzow K, et al. Resource utilization and costs of stroke unit care in Germany. Value Health. 2004;7:144–152.
Friedman B, Basu J. The rate and cost of hospital readmissions for prevetable conditions. Med Care Res Rev. 2004;61:225–240.
Hooi LN, Devaraj T. A hospital based study of cancer admissions. Med J Malaysia. 1998;53:22–29.
Sargeant LA, Barton EN. Medical admissions of oncology patients to the University Hospital of the West Indies. West Indian Med J. 1999;48:29–31.
Hayter CR, Mackillop WJ. Admissions to a radiation oncology inpatient service. Cancer Prev Control. 1997;1:116–121.
Hall MJ, DeFrances CJ. 2001 National Hospital Discharge Survey. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics; 2003. Advance Data From Vital and Health Statistics, No. 332.
Rhodes DA. Renovating existing space to meet special needs for outpatient pediatric oncology. World Hosp Health Serv. 1999;35:17–19.
Ogun SA, Adelowo OO, Familoni OB, et al. Pattern and outcome of medical admissions at the Ogun State University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu—a three year review. West Afr J Med. 2000;19:304–308.
Bellomo R, Goldsmith D, Russell S, et al. Postoperative serious adverse events in a teaching hospital: a prospective study. Med J Aust. March 4 2002;176::216–218.
Johnson M, Duncan L, Rothenberger A, et al. Older female inpatients in Arkansas. J Ark Med Soc. 2001;97:315–318.
Days of Care for Hospital Inpatients, by Major Illness Source: National Hospital Discharge Survey, NCHS. Available at: http:// www.nhlbi.nih.gov/funding/fromdir/cong/03hosp_t.htm. Accessed July 12, 2004.
Thompson LJ, Martin MT. Integration of cancer services in Ontario: the story of getting it done. Healthc Q. 2004;7(3):42–48.
Ruiz de Ona Lacasta JM, Gomez Fernandez M, Celdran Gil J. Community-acquired pneumonia in inpatients: mortality, comorbidity and risk classes. Rev Clin Esp. 2003;203:64–67.
Zhang Z. The trend of changes in the rate of admission and mortality among rural patients with acute myocardial infarction. Zhonghua Liu Xing Bing Xue Za Zhi. 2000;21:48–50.
Taylor IC, McConnell, JG. Patterns of admission and discharge in an acute geriatric medical ward. Ulster Med J. 1995;64:58–63.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tas, F., Argon, A., Disci, R. et al. Pattern and Outcome of admission to a medical oncology inpatient service. J Canc Educ 22, 80–85 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03174353
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03174353