Hospital stay frequency of patients with cancer diseases in Rhodes Island, Greece

Abstract

Abstract Background Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally and a major public health problem that poses a threat to human development. The aim of this study was to investigate the number of hospital stays of cancer patients in Rhodes island in Greece. Methods A retrospective study was conducted to examine the parameters of frequency (case numbers) of inpatient hospital stays for a 4-year period of 2015-2018 at the General Hospital of Rhodes (GHR). Results In total, 1838 cancer cases were hospitalized during the study period, with an average age of 66.5 years and a male-to-female ratio of 1.9:1. (1199 vs 639). The most frequent diagnosis was urological cancer (incl. prostate cancer, 32.2%), followed by skin cancer (15.6%), gastrointestinal cancer (incl. colorectal cancer, 14.4%), hematological cancer (10.7%), breast cancer (8.9%), gynecologic cancer (5.3%), thyroid cancer (5%), lung cancer (4.1%), ear-nose-throat cancer (2.1%) and connective and soft tissue cancer (2, 0.1%). Surgery was the most common treatment (57.5%), whereas 250 patients (13.6%) received no treatment at the GHR. Most of the patients (66.6%) received one type of drug therapy, whereas the rest received a combination of drug therapies. Due to the lack of an Oncology Department, the therapy was given by other health personnel (e.g. hematologists) according the guidelines/recommendations of oncology-health-care-professionals in tertiary-care-hospitals at the mainland. Conclusions Our results do not follow the percentages of hospitalized cancer cases as seen in other developed countries. The island of Rhodes does not have the specialized staff and the means to treat all kinds of cancer, thus the patients with other types of cancer (e.g. lung and breast cancer) were referred to receive tertiary care cancer treatment in mainland Greece. Our results yield information to guide future actions in order to improve health and quality of life in people in remote/island areas Key messages An oncology department should be created in the GHR in order patients with common cancers, like lung and breast cancer to be treated in the island of Rhodes.