Dataset Information

Geographic variation in use of laparoscopic colectomy for colon cancer.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Emerging evidence supporting the use of laparoscopic colectomy in patients with cancer has led to dramatic increases in utilization. Though certain patient and hospital characteristics may be associated with the use of laparoscopy, the influence of geography is poorly understood.

Methods

We used national Medicare claims data from 2009 and 2010 to examine geographic variation in utilization of laparoscopic colectomy for patients with colon cancer. Patients were assigned to hospital referral regions (HRRs) where they were treated. Multivariable logistic regression was used to generate age, sex, and race-adjusted rates of laparoscopic colectomy for each HRR. Patient quintiles of adjusted HRR utilization were used to evaluate differences in patient and hospital characteristics across low and high-utilizing HRRs.

Results

A total of 93,786 patients underwent colon resections at 3,476 hospitals during the study period, of which 30,502 (32.5%) were performed laparoscopically. Differences in patient characteristics between the lowest and highest quintiles of HRR utilization were negligible, and there was no difference in the availability of laparoscopic technology. Yet adjusted rates of laparoscopic colectomy utilization varied from 0% to 66.8% across 306 HRRs in the United States.

Conclusion

There is wide geographic variation in the utilization of laparoscopic colectomy for Medicare patients with colon cancer, suggesting treatment location may substantially influence a patient's options for surgical approach. Future efforts to reduce variation will require increased dissemination of training techniques, novel opportunities for learning among surgeons, and enhanced educational resources for patients.

SUBMITTER: Reames BN

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4220045 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Geographic variation in use of laparoscopic colectomy for colon cancer.

Reames Bradley N BN Sheetz Kyle H KH Waits Seth A SA Dimick Justin B JB Regenbogen Scott E SE

Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 20141006 32

<h4>Purpose</h4>Emerging evidence supporting the use of laparoscopic colectomy in patients with cancer has led to dramatic increases in utilization. Though certain patient and hospital characteristics may be associated with the use of laparoscopy, the influence of geography is poorly understood.<h4>Methods</h4>We used national Medicare claims data from 2009 and 2010 to examine geographic variation in utilization of laparoscopic colectomy for patients with colon cancer. Patients were assigned to ...[more]

PMID: 25287826

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Project description:Surgical resection is the primary treatment for colon cancer, but use of laparoscopic approaches varies widely despite demonstrated short- and long-term benefits.The purpose of this study was to identify characteristics associated with laparoscopic colon cancer resection and to quantify variation based on patient, hospital, and geographic characteristics.Bayesian cross-classified, multilevel logistic models calculated adjusted ORs and CIs for patient, surgeon, hospital, and geographic characteristics and unexplained variability (predicted vs. observed values) using adjusted median odds ratios for hospitals and counties.The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare claims database (2008-2011) supplemented with county-level American Community Survey (2008-2012) demographic data was used.A total of 10,618 patients ?66 years old who underwent colon cancer resection were included.Nonurgent/nonemergent resections for colon cancer patients ?66 years old were classified as laparoscopic or open procedures.Patients resided in 579 counties and used 950 hospitals; 47% of patients underwent laparoscopic surgery. Medicare/Medicaid dual enrollment, age ?85 years, and higher tumor stage and grade were negatively associated with laparoscopic surgery receipt; proximal tumors and increasing hospital size and surgeon caseload were positively associated. Significant unexplained variability at the hospital (adjusted median OR = 3.31; p < 0.001) and county levels (adjusted median OR = 1.28; p < 0.05) remained after adjustment.This was an observational study lacking generalizability to younger patients without Medicare or those with Health Maintenance Organization coverage and data set did not reflect national hospital studies or hospital volume. In addition, we were unable to account for specific types of comorbidities, such as obesity, and had broad categories for surgeon caseload.Determining sources of hospital-level variation among poor insured patients may help increase laparoscopic resection to maximize health outcomes and reduce cost. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/A363.

Project description:Background: Second primary malignancy (SPM) attracts a growing attention. However, the clinical features of colon cancer (CC) survivors with SPMs are not clear and could help guide clinicians to develop a better surveillance strategy. Methods: We reviewed 56,930 CC survivors treated with colectomy from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database during 1998-2011. Competing risk models and nomograms were conducted for predicting the risk of occurring SPMs. The clinical utility of the models was measured by decision curve analysis (DCA) using net benefit approaches. Results: Five thousand thirteen (17.1%) of male patients developed SPMs and sites of SPMs included prostate (32.2%), lung and bronchus (11.6%), urinary bladder and kidney (10.8%), colon (10.0%), and melanoma of the skin (3.9%), while 3,592 (13.0%) of female patients occurred SPMs and sites of SPMs involved breast (25.8%), lung and bronchus (13.6%), colon (11.6%), uterus (8.2%), urinary bladder, and kidney (5.6%). Survivors with a second carcinoma of lung and bronchus showed the worst prognosis. Older age increased the risk of SPMs in both male (Subdistribution hazard ratio =2.85 [95% confidence interval = 2.53-3.21]) and female (1.80 [1.59-2.04]) survivors, especially for the risk of a second prostate carcinoma in male (5.33 [4.03-7.03]). Compared with white race, black male survivors remained at higher risk to develop the second prostate carcinoma (1.98 [1.74-2.26]). Competing-risk nomograms for CC survivors were established to help clinicians predict the probabilities of overall SPMs and prostate carcinoma. Validation of nomograms showed good discrimination and accuracy, and DCAs revealed the clinical effectiveness. Conclusions: We profiled the clinical characteristics of a large population-based cohort of CC survivors with SPMs. These features may improve future follow-up management, especially for the surveillance of second prostate cancer in men and second breast cancer in women.

Dataset Information

Geographic variation in use of laparoscopic colectomy for colon cancer.

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Geographic variation in use of laparoscopic colectomy for colon cancer.

Similar Datasets

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