The burden of cervical cancer survivorship: Understanding morbidity and survivorship needs through hospital admissions

• Published in: Gynecologic oncology reports 2024-02, Vol.51, p.101328-101328, Article 101328
• Main Authors: Peerenboom, Rayne, Ackroyd, Sarah, Lee, Nita
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cancer survivorship; Cervical cancer; Gynecologic neoplasms; Health disparities; Health services research; Research Report
• ISSN: 2352-5789; 2352-5789
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gore.2024.101328

•43% of cervical cancer survivors experienced hospital admission after completion of initial treatment.•Most common reasons for admission were gastrointestinal complications, infection, genitourinary complications, pain control.•Admissions were of high complexity, requiring extensive inpatient interventions, ancillary care, and consult services.•Odds of admission were higher for Black patients, uninsured, those with low performance status, and those with recurrence. To describe disease- and treatment-related survivorship burden amongst survivors of cervical cancer and identify risk factors for hospital admissions after initial treatment. Retrospective chart review including patients treated for cervical cancer from 2014 to 2020 at a single urban academic institution. Clinical, demographic, and hospital admission characteristics were summarized. Associations between patient characteristics and likelihood of admission were examined using univariate and multivariate regression. Of 366 patients undergoing surveillance following completion of primary treatment, 156 (43 %) were hospitalized for cancer or treatment-related sequela in the median follow-up of 3.6 years (IQR 1.4–6.4), with a median of 2 admissions (IQR 1–4.5) per patient and 570 unique admissions. While 65 (35 %) of admitted patients had multiple reasons for admission, the most common reasons for admission were: gastrointestinal complications (43 %), infection (38 %), genitourinary complications (33 %), and pain control (23 %). A substantial proportion of admitted patients underwent interventions including surgical procedures (57 %), transfusion of blood products (40 %), and interventional radiology procedures (28 %) and utilized supportive care services including case management (53 %), physical therapy (40 %), and occupational therapy (36 %). On multivariate analysis, odds of admission were higher among Black patients (aOR 2.4, p