title: Prevalence and incidence of comorbidities in elderly women with ovarian cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Studies suggest comorbidity plays an important role in ovarian cancer. We characterized the epidemiology of comorbid conditions in elderly U.S. women with ovarian cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Women with ovarian cancer age ≥66 years, and matched cancer-free women, were identified using the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry linked to Medicare claims. Prevalence before diagnosis/index date and 3- and 12-month incidence rates (per 1000 person-years) after diagnosis/index date were estimated for 34 chronic and acute conditions across a broad range of diagnostic categories.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 5087 each of women with ovarian cancer and cancer-free women. The prevalence of most conditions was similar between cancer and cancer-free patients, but exceptions included hypertension (51.8% and 43.5%, respectively), osteoarthritis (13.4% and 17.3%, respectively), and cerebrovascular disease (8.0% and 9.8%, respectively). In contrast, 3- and 12-month incidence rates (per 1000 person years) of most conditions were significantly higher in cancer than in cancer-free patients: hypertension (177.3 and 47.4, respectively); thromboembolic event (145.3 and 5.5, respectively); congestive heart failure (113.3 and 28.6, respectively); infection (664.4 and 55.2, respectively); and anemia (408.3 and 33.1, respectively) at 12 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Comorbidities were common among elderly women. After cancer diagnosis, women with ovarian cancer had a much higher incidence of comorbidities than cancer-free women. The high incidence of some of these comorbidities may be related to the cancer or its treatment, but others may have been prevalent but undiagnosed until the cancer diagnosis. The presence of comorbidities may affect treatment decisions.
authors: Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, USA. vchia@amgen.com
authors: Victoria M
authors: VM
authors: Chia
authors: Cynthia D
authors: CD
authors: O'Malley
authors: Mark D
authors: MD
authors: Danese
authors: Karla J
authors: KJ
authors: Lindquist
authors: Michelle L
authors: ML
authors: Gleeson
authors: Michael A
authors: MA
authors: Kelsh
authors: Robert I
authors: RI
authors: Griffiths
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D006278:Medicare; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D018426:SEER Program; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology