KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to analyze COVID-19’s impact on EV and ADM events by using SIMPRO consortium data from six US health systems.
- Rates of EDVs and ADMs were analyzed at 30 and 90 days after starting chemotherapy or following surgery.
- The study found that many cancer patients had ED visits or hospital admissions within 30 days of starting chemotherapy or surgery.
Cancer patients who start chemotherapy or have surgery are at risk of emergency department visits (EDVs) and acute-care hospital admissions (ADMs). SIMPRO is an interventional study that describes the frequency and predictors of EDV and acute-care hospital admissions in cancer patients after starting chemotherapy or having surgery
The study started an electronic health record-integrated symptom management program (eSyM) to help cancer patients manage their symptoms after chemotherapy or surgery. They analyzed the rates of EDVs and ADMs in cancer patients who started chemotherapy or had surgery, whether they used eSyM resources or not.
From September 2019 to December 2022, around 8,664 patients initiated chemotherapy, and 11,578 underwent surgery. Among them, 3,075 chemotherapy patients and 2,587 surgery patients experienced at least one outcome event.
The 90-day outcomes showed significant variation across health systems for patients with chemotherapy (EDV 2-21%, ADM 5-28%) and surgery (EDV 7-14%, ADM 9-18%). In the multivariable analyses, cancer patients who reported being disabled had higher odds of experiencing an EDV (OR 1.73-1.96) and ADM (ORs 1.52-1.96). Widows were associated with greater odds of having an ADM (ORs 1.29-1.30) but not an EDV. Cox regression analysis revealed that chemotherapy recipients had lower hazards of an EDV during 2020 (coinciding with the start of the COVID pandemic), but no significant association was found for ADMs. For surgery patients, there was no significant relationship between the calendar year and the occurrence of EDVs or ADMs (P<0.001 for all reported values).
The study concluded that many cancer patients had EDV or hospital admissions within 30 days of starting chemotherapy or surgery. More research is needed to determine how to prevent these events.
Source: https://meetings.asco.org/abstracts-presentations/226552
Clinical Trial: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03850912
Michael J. Hassett, Christine Cronin, Angela Tramontano, Sandra L. Wong, Hajime Uno, Roshan Paudel, Jessica J Bian, Don S. Dizon, Hannah W. Hazard-Jenkins, Raymond U. Osarogiagbon, and Deborah Schrag. Journal of Clinical Oncology (2023) 41:16_suppl, 6621-6621.
