Impact of mental health on burden of illness, septicemia and mortality among patients hospitalized for cancer

TL;DR

This study shows that mental health issues in cancer patients lead to worse outcomes like longer hospital stays and higher mortality.

Contribution

The study highlights the specific impact of mental illness on clinical outcomes across multiple cancer types in hospitalized patients.

Findings

Mental illness was associated with increased odds of septicemia, weight loss, and fluid imbalance in cancer patients.

Prostate cancer patients with mental illness had higher in-hospital mortality compared to others.

Mental illness prolonged hospital stays and increased total charges for cancer patients.

Abstract

Mental health problems are increasingly relevant for cancer patients struggling with the disease and its treatment. The purpose of this study was to further characterize and contrast variances between Mental illness (MI)—cognitive disorders—and clinical outcomes in patients hospitalized in the United States in 2017 for the treatment of prostate (PC), lung (LC), leukemia, and oral cavity, lip, and pharyngeal cancers (OPC). While accounting for patient and clinical characteristics, we used generalized linear models to evaluate the association between MI and outcomes––mortality, septicemia, weight loss, fluid and electrolyte imbalance, and illness burden (length of stay (LOS) and total charges). There were 16,910 (Weighted, original numbers) patients with MI among 209,410 PC patients. In the adjusted analysis, PC patients with MI had a prolonged LOS, coefficient: 1.52; 1.41–1.64. In addition, MI were associated with increased odds of septicemia (1.36; 1.22–1.51), weight loss (1.38; 1.23–1.56), and fluid and electrolyte imbalance (1.33; 1.21–1.53). These findings were comparable for the lung, leukemia, and oral cavity, lip, and pharyngeal cancers. In addition, unlike other cancer cohorts, MI were associated with increased odds of in-hospital mortality in PC patients, 1.42, 1.21–1.58. Patients diagnosed with cancer who also suffered from cognitive impairments had poor clinical outcomes. The findings of this study bring to light a gap in the existing literature on cancer, and the recommendations emphasize the significance of psychosocial support in reaching a more favorable prognosis and improving quality of life.

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