Incidence and Clinical Complications of Myelodysplastic Syndromes Among United States Medicare Beneficiaries

Purpose To determine the incidence and complications of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) among Medicare beneficiaries. Methods Retrospective review of 2003 Medicare Standard Analytic Files utilizing International Classification of Diseases for Oncology ninth edition CM code 238.7 to identify new MDS patients, with 3-year follow-up. Results Among 1,394,343 individuals in Medicare Standard Analytic Files age ≥ 65 years, 162 per 100,000 were coded as newly diagnosed MDS during 2003 yielding a calculated 45,000 new cases in the United States Medicare ≥ 65 years population. Patients with MDS were older (median age, 77 years), and over-represented by males. Among patients with MDS diagnosed during first quarter of 2003, 73.2% suffered cardiac-related events during 3-year follow-up, which exceeded the Medicare population (54.5%; P < .01) even when age adjusted (odds ratio, 2.10; P < .01). Significant increases in prevalence of diabetes (40.0% v 33.1%), dyspnea (49.4% v 28.5%), hepatic diseases (0.8% v 0.2%), and ...