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Consumption of health resources in older people with differentiated thyroid carcinoma: a multicenter analysis

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Abstract

Objective

There is hardly any information on the consumption of healthcare resources by older people with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). We analyzed these consumptions in older patients with DTC and compared patients 75 years and older with subjects aged 60–74 years.

Methods

A multicenter, retrospective analysis was designed. We recorded three groups of health resources consumption (visits, diagnostic procedures, and therapeutic procedures) and identified a subgroup of patients with high consumption of resources. We compared patients aged between 60–74 years (group 1) with patients aged 75 and over (group 2).

Results

We included 1654 patients (women, 74.4%), of whom 1388 (83.9%) belonged to group 1 and 266 (16.1%) to group 2. In group 2, we found a higher proportion of patients requiring emergency department visits (7.9 vs. 4.3%, P = 0.019) and imaging studies (24.1 vs. 17.3%; P = 0.012) compared to group 1. However, we did not find any significant difference between both groups in the consumption of other visits, diagnostic procedures, or therapeutic procedures. Overall, 340 patients (20.6%) were identified as high consumers of health resources, 270 (19.5%) in group 1 and 70 (26.3%) in group 2 (P = 0.013). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of recurrence and mortality, radioiodine treatment, tumor size, and vascular invasion were significantly related to the high global consumption of resources. However, the age was not significantly related to it.

Conclusion

In patients with DTC over 60 years of age, advanced age is not an independent determining factor in the consumption of health resources.

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Data availability

Data are available through a reasonable request to the corresponding author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro Majadahonda, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Puerta de Hierro Segovia de Arana, Majadahonda, Spain

    Juan J. Díez & Pedro Iglesias

  2. Department of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Juan J. Díez & Pedro Iglesias

  3. Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Universitario de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    Emma Anda

  4. Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Severo Ochoa, Leganés, Spain

    Victoria Alcazar

  5. Department of Endocrinology, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario A Coruña, Coruña, Spain

    María L. Isidro

  6. Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain

    Cristina Familiar

  7. Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Universitario de Basurto, Bilbao, Spain

    Miguel Paja & Amelia Oleaga

  8. Department of Medicine, Universidad del País Vasco, Bilbao, Spain

    Miguel Paja & Amelia Oleaga

  9. Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid, Spain

    Patricia Martín Rojas-Marcos

  10. Department of Endocrinology, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León, León, Spain

    Begoña Pérez-Corral

  11. Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, Spain

    Elena Navarro & Ana R. Romero-Lluch

  12. Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Royo Villanova, Zaragoza, Spain

    María J. Pamplona

  13. Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Regional Universitario de Málaga (IBIMA), Universidad de Málaga, Málaga, Spain

    José C. Fernández-García

  14. Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Universitario de Tarragona Joan XXIII, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Ciberdem, Tarragona, Spain

    Ana Megía

  15. Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias & Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), Oviedo, Spain

    Laura Manjón-Miguélez & Cecilia Sánchez-Ragnarsson

  16. Department of Endocrinology, Complejo Hospitalario de Toledo, Toledo, Spain

    Julia Sastre

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  1. Juan J. Díez
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Contributions

Conception and design: J.J.D. Administrative support: all authors. Provision of study materials or patients: all authors. Collection and assembly of data: all authors. Data analysis and interpretation: all authors. Manuscript writing: all authors. Final approval of manuscript: all authors.

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Correspondence to Juan J. Díez.

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Díez, J.J., Anda, E., Alcazar, V. et al. Consumption of health resources in older people with differentiated thyroid carcinoma: a multicenter analysis. Endocrine 81, 521–531 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-023-03369-9

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