KEYWORDS

Hodgkin's lymphoma, palliative care utilization

OBJECTIVE

To assess outcomes, mortality, and palliative care utilization in hospitalized patients.

DESIGN

Retrospective cross-sectional study

SETTING

National Inpatient Database 2019-2021 using ICD-10 codes

Introduction:

Managing Hodgkin's lymphoma patients in the hospital involves various risk factors along with comorbidities. Its clinical outcomes can vary by gender and other factors. The utilization of palliative care services has encouraged risk stratification of patients, which can be challenging. We aim to explore the actual utilization of palliative care services and outcomes of hospitalized Hodgkin lymphoma patients.

Method:

We analyzed data from the National Inpatient Sample to identify patients who were admitted with a diagnosis of Hodgkin's lymphoma from 2019-2021. Among this population, we looked for trends in the utilization of palliative care services and factors affecting outcomes in hospitalized patients. We investigated the role of gender and overall mortality in this cohort.

Results:

A total of 144,614 patients were admitted over 3 years with a diagnosis of Hodgkin's lymphoma. 53.5% were male and 46.5% were female. The in-hospital mortality was around 3.4%, with more deaths in males than females (4% vs. 3%). Gender did not affect the outcomes for respiratory failure. However, males had a higher incidence of Acute Kidney Injury(AKI) (21% vs. 14%), Gastrointestinal(GI) bleeds (5% vs. 4%), and they required more hemodialysis (1.2% vs. 0.8%). Palliative care utilization was 4.8% and was similar for both genders. The trends for utilizing palliative care services improved overall, with 4.2% in 2019, 4.6% in 2020, and 5.1% in 2021, which was statistically significant with a p-value of 0.02.

Conclusion: Our study's preliminary results indicate a higher incidence of AKI, GI bleeding, and the need for hemodialysis in hospitalized male patients. Considering the higher inpatient mortality in males, studies identifying risk factors might be beneficial. Palliative care services can play a crucial role in the overall management of the patient, and increasing utilization trends are encouraging. Considering the limited availability and higher need for palliative care services, studies on risk stratification will help in navigating care for these patients.

Disclosures

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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2024
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