Background:
Medication-related health events are an important issue affecting the safety of patients with cancer. This study aimed to describe the characteristics of medication-related and non-medication-related hospitalisations in oncology patients.
Methods:
This retrospective cohort study was conducted using admitted patient care data from a tertiary metropolitan hospital in South Australia, covering a catchment area of ~350,000 people. We identified patients aged ≥26 years admitted under oncology between 01-January-2017 and 31-December-2022. Reasons for hospitalisations were identified using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 codes and classified into two broad categories: medication-related and non-medication-related. Descriptive analysis was conducted to compare the characteristics and level of care between the two groups.
Results:
Over the 6-year period, a total of 4,978 oncology admissions were recorded. Of these, 250 (5%) were considered medication-related. While there was no significant difference in mean age between those who experienced a medication-related admission and those who did not (65 and 64 years), the medication-related cases had a higher mean number of comorbidity (6 versus 4) than the non-medication-related counterparts. The average length of stay (LOS) was significantly longer (10.1 versus 4.7 days, p-value<0.0001) with a higher proportion of medication-related cases admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) compared to the non-medication-related counterparts (10% versus 2.6%). Among those admitted to ICU, the average ICU LOS was five times longer (10.1 versus 2.3 days) in medication-related cases than the non-medication-related counterparts. Analysis of complexity of care using the Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) classification demonstrated the majority of the medication-related cases were rated as ‘major complexity’ compared to the non-medication-related counterparts (80% versus 48%).
Conclusion:
Medication-related hospitalisations in oncology patients were associated with more complex levels of care and longer admissions. The development of targeted strategies for preventing medication-related morbidity in patients with cancer is warranted.