Examining the effect of dementia on hospitalization outcome for GI cancer: A nationwide retrospective analysis.

Abstract

e16336 Background: Dementia is a debilitating condition affecting a significant fraction of the elderly, with far-reaching consequences. It is an active field of research, with current emphasis on modifiable risk factors as well as treatment. Considering the limitations that dementia imposes on the management of other medical conditions, we attempt to study its association with, and impact on hospitalizations for gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. Methods: We queried the National Inpatient Sample databases for the years 2016 through 2020, using International Classification of Diseases, tenth revision (ICD-10) codes to include all adult admissions with esophageal, gastric, colorectal, biliary Tract, liver, and pancreatic cancers. We further stratified this cohort based on the presence of a secondary diagnosis of dementia. STATA 17 was used to perform a multivariate regression analysis to compare outcomes in the two cohorts, while adjusting for potential confounders. Results: The study identified 280,180 patients with GI cancer, of whom 4.7% (13,135) had a secondary diagnosis of dementia. The cohort with dementia was found to have a higher proportion of females (47.0%) compared to the non-dementia cohort (40.8%) and a higher median age (77.9 years vs 66.9 years). Additionally, this cohort had a higher prevalence of other medical comorbidities, with 98.2% having a Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) greater than 3 compared to 87.8% in the non-dementia cohort. The primary outcome of the study was in-patient mortality, which was stratified by age groups. In the 41-65 years old group, the mortality rate was higher in the dementia cohort (16.3%) compared to the non-dementia cohort (8.6%), with an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 1.96 (95% CI: 1.10-3.48, P<0.05). In the 65-75 years old subgroup, the mortality rate was also higher in the dementia cohort (13.1%) compared to the non-dementia cohort (8.6%), with an aOR of 1.48 (95%CI: 1.14-1.93, P<0.05). In the above-75-year-old subgroup, the mortality was higher in the dementia cohort (11.7%) compared to the non-dementia cohort (8.5%) (aOR: 1.35; 95%CI: 1.16-1.58, P<0.05). Conclusions: Hospitalizations with GI cancer, with a secondary diagnosis of dementia, have higher odds of in-patient mortality compared to those without dementia. This was observed across all age groups. The dementia cohort also had a higher proportion of females and a higher median age, along with a higher prevalence of multiple comorbidities. These findings suggest that individuals with gastrointestinal cancer and dementia face a higher risk of in-patient mortality, highlighting the importance of considering dementia as a part of care planning in patients with GI cancer. [Table: see text]