Medical Utilization of Emergency Departments among Patients with Prostate Cancer: A Nationwide Population-Based Study in Taiwan.

Jui-Ming Liu,Yu-Tang Chen,Ren-Jun Hsu,Yueh-Ping Liu

doi:10.3390/ijerph182413233

Abstract

(1) Background: In Taiwan, prostate cancer is a major malignancy with an increasing incidence among men. This study explores the medical utilization of emergency departments among patients with prostate cancer in Taiwan. (2) Methods: This nationwide, population-based study was conducted via a cross-sectional method based on the Registry for Catastrophic Illness Patient Database from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database. Patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer between 1997 and 2013 were enrolled in the study and divided into four treatment-related groups. The rate of emergency department presentation, disease categorization of emergency department visits, emergency department-related medical expenditures, and temporal trends were investigated. (3) Results: A total of 18,728 patients with prostate cancer were identified between 1997 and 2013, for whom 13,098 emergency department visits were recorded. The number of emergency department visits increased during the study period. The incidence rate for the medical utilization of emergency department visits was 822 per 1000 people during the study period. The incidence rates for patients with prostate cancer in the radical prostatectomy, radiotherapy, androgen deprivation therapy, and chemotherapy groups were 549, 1611, 1101, and 372, respectively. The average medical expenditure per emergency department visit was TWD 3779.8 ± 5116.2, and the expenditure was recorded for the chemotherapy group at TWD 4690.8 ± 7043.3. The most common disease diagnoses among patients with prostate cancer who presented to the emergency department were injury/poisoning (16.79%), genitourinary disorders (10.66%), and digestive disorders (10.48%). (4) Conclusions: This nationwide population-based study examined the emergency department visits of patients with prostate cancer in Taiwan, providing useful information for improving the quality of medical care.

Highlights

Prostate cancer (PCa) represents the most common cancer affecting men in the US and is the fifth most common cancer among men in Taiwan [1,2]
Cancer Observatory: CANCER TODAY (GLOBOCAN), more than 1.1 million patients were newly diagnosed with PCa, and 330,000 deaths occurred among patients with PCa in 2012 [3]
The National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) is an administrative database derived from the National Health Insurance (NHI) program, the national medical insurance system of Taiwan, which has enrolled greater than 99% of all Taiwan residents

Summary

Introduction

Prostate cancer (PCa) represents the most common cancer affecting men in the US and is the fifth most common cancer among men in Taiwan [1,2]. Cancer Observatory: CANCER TODAY (GLOBOCAN), more than 1.1 million patients were newly diagnosed with PCa, and 330,000 deaths occurred among patients with PCa in 2012 [3]. In Taiwan, PCa incidence has increased yearly up to 31.7 per 100,000 persons, with 6644 new PCa diagnoses and 1377 deaths reported in 2017 [4].

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion