Healthcare utilization and costs associated with COPD among SEER-Medicare beneficiaries with NSCLC

AbstractAim: To estimate the healthcare utilization and costs in elderly lung cancer patients with and without pre-existing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Methods: Using Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)-Medicare data, this study identified patients with lung cancer between 2006–2010, at least 66 years of age, and continuously enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B in the 12 months prior to cancer diagnosis. The diagnosis of pre-existing COPD in lung cancer patients was identified using ICD-9 codes. Healthcare utilization and costs were categorized as inpatient hospitalizations, skilled nursing facility (SNF) use, physician office visits, ER visits, and outpatient encounters for every stage of lung cancer. The adjusted analysis was performed using a generalized linear model for healthcare costs and a negative binomial model for healthcare utilization.Results: Inpatient admissions in the COPD group increased for each stage of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared to the non-...