Kamineni Academy of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, NTRUHS, Hyderabad, India
Alekhya Pagidipally , Shivani Sharma , Mehndi Dandwani , Suma Sri Chennapragada , Kamleshun Ramphul , Renuka Verma , Sailaja Sanikommu , Shaheen Sombans , Stephanie G Mejias , Balkiranjit Kaur Dhillon , Petras Lohana , Fnu Arti , Vijay Kumar
Background: Homelessness is a major socio-economic issue in the United States, affecting an estimated 171 per 100,000 persons in certain states. While pancreatic cancer (PC) tends to have a poor prognosis, the disease requires an early diagnosis, proper care, and follow-ups. As there is a paucity of data highlighting differences in patient characteristics and outcomes of homeless patients with PC, a retrospective study was conducted via a national database. Methods: We used data from the 2016-2020 National Inpatient Sample (NIS), the most extensive hospital database, to identify patients with a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Patients with a status of “homeless” were located via the ICD-10 code “Z590”, per suggestions from HCUP and past studies. Several differences in patient characteristics were explored between homeless cases of PC and non-homeless cases via Pearson’s Chi-Square tests. Finally, the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% Confidence intervals (CI) of various outcomes such as mortality, pulmonary embolism, septicemia, and hepatic failure were calculated via multivariable logistic regression models. Results: Our study identified 544855 pancreatic cancer cases, including 1380 patients classified as homeless (0.3%). 81.5% of homeless patients were males (vs. 52.1%), and 24.6% were admitted on weekends (vs. 20.6%). Moreover, Medicaid was the prime insurer among homeless patients (47.6% vs. 8.6%) with a higher mean hospital charge ($86796 vs. $70610). Racial differences were also observed as 51.9% of homeless cases were Whites (vs. 71.2%), while 31.6% (vs. 13.8%) were Blacks, and 11.3% (vs. 8.2%) were Hispanics. A higher proportion of homeless cases had palliative care utilization (27.9% vs. 19.1%), a Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) order (25.7% vs. 23.1%), and required pancreatic and proximal biliary dilation/stenting (4.0% vs. 2.2%). Homeless patients admitted with pancreatic cancer also expressed higher odds of in-hospital mortality (8.7% vs. 7.4%, aOR 1.625, 95% CI 1.280-2.064, p<0.01). No statistical significance was found for events of pulmonary embolism (aOR 1.231, p=0.160), septicemia (aOR 1.044, p=0.674), and hepatic failure (aOR 0.892, p=0.549). Conclusions: Homeless patients with PC were linked with higher in-patient mortality. Various racial and socio-economic differences were also observed. Several efforts to ameliorate access to care among homeless patients and an early diagnosis may help improve the outcomes.
Disclaimer
This material on this page is ©2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology, all rights reserved. Licensing available upon request. For more information, please contact licensing@asco.org
Abstract Disclosures
2024 ASCO Annual Meeting
First Author: Arun Kumar
2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
First Author: Ted Akhiwu
2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
First Author: Alekhya Pagidipally
2022 ASCO Annual Meeting
First Author: Khaldun Obeidat