Comparison of medical resource consumption between oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma with and without sarcopenia: A nationwide population-based cohort study.

Abstract

No study has compared long-term medical resource consumption between patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) with and without sarcopenia receiving curative surgery. Generalized linear mixed and logistic regression models were employed to evaluate the number of postoperative visits and medical reimbursement for head and neck cancer or complications and the number of hospitalizations for treatment-related complications over 5 years after curative surgery, respectively. The mean difference (95% CI) in total medical claims amounts between the nonsarcopenia and sarcopenia groups were new Taiwan dollars (NTD) 47 820 (35 864-59 776, p < 0.0001), 11 902 (4897-18 908, p = 0.0009), 17 282 (10 666-23 898, p < 0.0001), 17 364 (9644-25 084, p < 0.0001), and 8236 (111-16 362, p = 0.0470) for the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth years, respectively. The long-term medical resource consumption was higher in the sarcopenia group than in the nonsarcopenia group.