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Background: Patients with advanced cancer and bone metastases frequently experience skeletal-related events (SREs) including pathologic fracture, spinal cord compression, and radiation or surgery to bone. This prospective, observational study characterized health-resource utilization (HRU) associated with each SRE type across tumor types.
Methods: Patients with bone metastases secondary to breast, prostate, or lung cancer as well as patients with multiple myeloma were enrolled within 97 days of experiencing an SRE and were followed prospectively for up to 18 months. Data on hospitalization, length of hospital stay, outpatient visits, emergency department visits, nursing home or long-term care facility stays, home health visits, procedures, and medication usage were collected and attributed to SREs by investigators.
Results: In all, 238 patients were prospectively followed for a median of 9.5 months after enrollment. Bisphosphonates were prescribed in 77% of patients. Of 510 SREs recorded, 442 were included in the HRU analyses. Spinal cord compression and surgery to bone were associated with the highest rates of inpatient stays (mean, 0.6 hospitalizations per SRE), and length of stay was longest for pathologic fracture (mean, 16 days per SRE). Radiation to bone had the most outpatient visits (mean, 10 visits per SRE) and procedures (mean, 12 per SRE).
Limitations: HRU was likely underestimated because patient charts may not have been comprehensive, and the study design did not capture all potential HRU sources. Sample sizes were small for some SRE types.
Conclusions: Each SRE type was associated with substantial HRU, and patterns of HRU were unique across SRE type. The HRU burden of SREs in patients with bone metastases is considerable, even with bisphosphonate treatment.
*For a PDF of the full article, click in the link to the left of this introduction.
Background: Patients with advanced cancer and bone metastases frequently experience skeletal-related events (SREs) including pathologic fracture, spinal cord compression, and radiation or surgery to bone. This prospective, observational study characterized health-resource utilization (HRU) associated with each SRE type across tumor types.
Methods: Patients with bone metastases secondary to breast, prostate, or lung cancer as well as patients with multiple myeloma were enrolled within 97 days of experiencing an SRE and were followed prospectively for up to 18 months. Data on hospitalization, length of hospital stay, outpatient visits, emergency department visits, nursing home or long-term care facility stays, home health visits, procedures, and medication usage were collected and attributed to SREs by investigators.
Results: In all, 238 patients were prospectively followed for a median of 9.5 months after enrollment. Bisphosphonates were prescribed in 77% of patients. Of 510 SREs recorded, 442 were included in the HRU analyses. Spinal cord compression and surgery to bone were associated with the highest rates of inpatient stays (mean, 0.6 hospitalizations per SRE), and length of stay was longest for pathologic fracture (mean, 16 days per SRE). Radiation to bone had the most outpatient visits (mean, 10 visits per SRE) and procedures (mean, 12 per SRE).
Limitations: HRU was likely underestimated because patient charts may not have been comprehensive, and the study design did not capture all potential HRU sources. Sample sizes were small for some SRE types.
Conclusions: Each SRE type was associated with substantial HRU, and patterns of HRU were unique across SRE type. The HRU burden of SREs in patients with bone metastases is considerable, even with bisphosphonate treatment.
*For a PDF of the full article, click in the link to the left of this introduction.
Background: Patients with advanced cancer and bone metastases frequently experience skeletal-related events (SREs) including pathologic fracture, spinal cord compression, and radiation or surgery to bone. This prospective, observational study characterized health-resource utilization (HRU) associated with each SRE type across tumor types.
Methods: Patients with bone metastases secondary to breast, prostate, or lung cancer as well as patients with multiple myeloma were enrolled within 97 days of experiencing an SRE and were followed prospectively for up to 18 months. Data on hospitalization, length of hospital stay, outpatient visits, emergency department visits, nursing home or long-term care facility stays, home health visits, procedures, and medication usage were collected and attributed to SREs by investigators.
Results: In all, 238 patients were prospectively followed for a median of 9.5 months after enrollment. Bisphosphonates were prescribed in 77% of patients. Of 510 SREs recorded, 442 were included in the HRU analyses. Spinal cord compression and surgery to bone were associated with the highest rates of inpatient stays (mean, 0.6 hospitalizations per SRE), and length of stay was longest for pathologic fracture (mean, 16 days per SRE). Radiation to bone had the most outpatient visits (mean, 10 visits per SRE) and procedures (mean, 12 per SRE).
Limitations: HRU was likely underestimated because patient charts may not have been comprehensive, and the study design did not capture all potential HRU sources. Sample sizes were small for some SRE types.
Conclusions: Each SRE type was associated with substantial HRU, and patterns of HRU were unique across SRE type. The HRU burden of SREs in patients with bone metastases is considerable, even with bisphosphonate treatment.
*For a PDF of the full article, click in the link to the left of this introduction.