title: Results of colectomy in elderly patients with colon cancer, based on Medicare claims data.
abstract: Currently available estimates of outcomes following colon resection in elderly patients with colon cancer are based on series collected at academic medical centers. We used Medicare Part A claims and enrollment records of a 5% nationally random sample of elderly Medicare beneficiaries from 1983 to 1985 to estimate how patient age and sex affected perioperative mortality and 1- and 2-year survival rates among elderly patients undergoing a colon resection procedure for colon cancer. Among the 5,586 individuals in our data set, the overall perioperative mortality rate was 5.0%, ranging from 3.3% in beneficiaries 66 to 69 years of age to 9.3% in those 85 years of age and older. Men had a 31% higher perioperative mortality rate than women (5.8% versus 4.4%, p less than 0.05). The overall postoperative survival rates at 1 and 2 years were 72% and 63%, respectively, decreasing with increasing age, but were similar in men and women. This analysis provides age- and sex-specific estimates of outcomes following surgery for elderly patients with colon cancer that are more precise and have more potential for generalization than those that were available previously.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Program for Medical Technology and Practice Assessment, Center for Hospital Finance and Management, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Whittle
authors.forename: E P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Steinberg
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Herbert
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003082:Colectomy / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008485:Medical Audit; D016344:Medicare Part A; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology