Effect of Comorbidity on Lung Cancer Diagnosis Timing and Mortality: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study in Taiwan

• Published in: BioMed research international Vol. 2018; no. 2018; pp. 1 - 9
• Main Authors: Wang, Kung-Min, Wang, Kung-Jeng, Chen, Kun-Huang, Dima, Shinechimeg, Teng, Nai-Chia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cairo, Egypt Hindawi Publishing Corporation 01.01.2018; Hindawi; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; Hindawi Limited
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Analysis; Bronchitis; Cancer; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Cohort analysis; Cohort Studies; Comorbidity; Data processing; Development and progression; Diagnosis; Disease-Free Survival; Female; Humans; Hypertension; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Lung cancer; Lung Diseases - complications; Lung Diseases - diagnosis; Lung Diseases - mortality; Lung Diseases - pathology; Lung Neoplasms - complications; Lung Neoplasms - diagnosis; Lung Neoplasms - mortality; Lung Neoplasms - pathology; Male; Medical research; Middle Aged; Mortality; Oncology, Experimental; Patients; Population studies; Population-based studies; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Survival; Taiwan - epidemiology; Tuberculosis; Taiwan
• ISSN: 2314-6133; 2314-6141
• DOI: 10.1155/2018/1252897

The effect of comorbidity on lung cancer patients’ survival has been widely reported. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of comorbidity on the establishment of the diagnosis of lung cancer and survival in lung cancer patients in Taiwan by using a nationwide population-based study design. This study collected various comorbidity patients and analyzed data regarding the lung cancer diagnosis and survival during a 16-year follow-up period (1995–2010). In total, 101,776 lung cancer patients were included, comprising 44,770 with and 57,006 without comorbidity. The Kaplan–Meier analyses were used to compare overall survival between lung cancer patients with and without comorbidity. In our cohort, chronic bronchitis patients who developed lung cancer had the lowest overall survival in one (45%), five (28.6%), and ten years (26.2%) since lung cancer diagnosis. Among lung cancer patients with nonpulmonary comorbidities, patients with hypertension had the lowest overall survival in one (47.9%), five (30.5%), and ten (28.2%) years since lung cancer diagnosis. In 2010, patients with and without comorbidity had 14.86 and 9.31 clinical visits, respectively. Lung cancer patients with preexisting comorbidity had higher frequency of physician visits. The presence of comorbid conditions was associated with early diagnosis of lung cancer.