Prevalence and mortality of colorectal cancer with iron deficiency anemia in the South.

Abstract

e15141 Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published data on incidence rates of colorectal cancer (CRC) referenced from the U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. Using data on admissions from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) from 1999-2014. Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is a commonly encountered comorbidity of CRC, particularly in late stage disease and is associated with higher rates of complications. Methods: Adult admissions with a primary diagnosis of CRC and secondary diagnosis of IDA were extracted from the NIS database using ICD-9 codes from 1999-2014 (N = 5,130, weighted N = 25,594). The sample was weighted to approximate the full inpatient population of the U.S. to analyze differences in regional distribution (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West) we assumed a normal distribution of 25% per region and then performed a chi squared analysis. Results: There were more cases of CRC with IDA in the South (38.32%) compared to the Midwest (22.76%), West (20.45%) and Northeast (18.46%) (p = 0.001). In addition, there were higher rates of mortality from CRC with IDA in the South (29.32%) compared to the Midwest (22.87%), West (21.43%) and Northeast (16.37%) (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Our data demonstrates a correspondence between the prevalence of IDA associated CRC with a greater prevalence and increased risk of mortality in the South relative to other regions in the U.S.Regional differences in prevalence also corresponded to regional differences in mortality. Future research should investigate the factors that explain these regional disparities.