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The Impact of Cancer on one year mortality in multimorbid geriatric patients with palliative consultation
The Impact of Cancer on one year mortality in multimorbid geriatric patients with palliative consultation
Authors: Ellie Soheili, Hussain Dalal, Nadeem Hussain, Michael J. Mader, Hanh Trinh, Aneela Hussain, Sandra Sanchez-Reilly, Marcos I. Restrepo
Affiliation: University of Texas Health San Antonio and South Texas Veterans Health care system
Background In older adults, malignancy and other comorbidities can pose substantial challenges to treatment and complicate clinical outcomes. Palliative care is one solution to address the challenges of treating multimorbid older adults. Currently, there are limited studies comparing mortality rates among multimorbid patients receiving palliative care that focus on the independent impact of malignancy on mortality. We aimed to assess the effect of cancer on one-year mortality among multimorbid older adults. Methodology We conducted a cohort study with outpatient geriatric veterans at the South Texas Veterans Health System. The inclusion criteria encompassed older adults > 65 with complex medical comorbidities (Charleson comorbidity index (CCI) > 1) irrespective of cancer for a period of 5 years prior to the initial palliative consultation. The primary objective as to compare the one-year mortality among the two groups. We adjusted for comorbidities including congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, dementia, renal and hepatic diseases. Results We selected 1,449 outpatient geriatric veterans with comorbidities. Among these, 425 veterans (29.3%) had concurrent cancer and complex medical conditions (CCI > 1) while 1,024 geriatric patients (70.7%) had only complex medical conditions. The median CCI among the veteran with comorbidities and cancer was 6 as compare to CCI of 3 among veterans without cancer. Patients with cancer had a higher 1-year mortality 55.3% (n=235) as compared to 44% (n=450) patients without cancer (aOR 1.97, 95% CI). Conclusion Our analysis showed that cancer, combined with high comorbidity, led to a higher one-year mortality rate in older adults receiving palliative care, while those receiving palliative care with high comorbidity alone had a lower one-year mortality rate. After adjusting for comorbidities, cancer independently doubled the odds ratio of 1 year mortality, emphasizing the need for earlier interventions and palliative care in this population.