Abstract
Purpose
To understand the impact of pre-existing conditions on healthcare utilization among under- and uninsured patients in the transition from cancer treatment to post-treatment survivorship.
Methods
Using electronic health record data, we constructed a cohort of patients seen in an integrated county health system between 1/1/2010 and 12/31/2016. Six hundred thirty-one adult patients diagnosed with non-metastatic breast or colorectal cancer during this period (cases) were matched 1:1 on sex and Charlson comorbidity index to non-cancer patients who had at least two chronic conditions and with at least one visit to the health system during the study period (controls). Conditional fixed effects Poisson regression models compared number of primary care and emergency department (ED) visits and completed [vs. no show or missed] appointments between cancer and non-cancer patients.
Results
Cancer patients had significantly lower number of visits compared with non-cancer patients (N = 46,965 vs. 85,038). Cancer patients were less likely to have primary care (IRR = 0.25; 95% CI: 0.24, 0.27) and ED visits (IRR = 0.57; 95% CI: 0.50, 0.64) but more likely to complete a scheduled appointment (AOR = 4.83; 95% CI: 4.32, 5.39) compared with non-cancer patients. Cancer patients seen in primary care at a higher rate were more likely to visit the ED (IRR = 2.06; 95% CI: 1.52, 2.80) than those seen in primary care at a lower rate.
Conclusion
Health systems need to find innovative, effective solutions to increase primary care utilization among cancer patients with chronic care conditions to ensure optimal management of both chronic conditions and cancer.
Implications for Cancer Survivors
Maintaining regular connections with primary care providers during active cancer treatment should be promoted.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Funding
Support for this project came from the National Cancer Institute (R01-CA203856).
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Conceptualization: BAB, SCL; methodology: BAB KKJ; formal analysis: KKJ, QSB-N, UCO, HZ; writing—original draft preparation: KKJ; writing—review and editing: all authors; funding acquisition: BAB, SCL, NS; data acquisition: MEM.
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The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, with additional site approval by Parkland Health & Hospital System.
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A waiver of informed consent was granted for this study.
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The authors declare no competing interests.
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Katelyn K. Jetelina and Simon Craddock Lee are joint first authors.
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Jetelina, K.K., Lee, S.C., Booker-Nubie, Q.S. et al. Importance of primary care for underserved cancer patients with multiple chronic conditions. J Cancer Surviv 17, 1276–1285 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-021-01159-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-021-01159-8