Trend in and Correlates of Undergoing Radiotherapy in Taiwanese Cancer Patients' Last Month of Life.
A significant proportion of cancer patients at end of life (EOL) undergo radiotherapy, but this evidence is not from nationwide population-based studies.



The aims of this population-based study were to investigate the trend in undergoing radiotherapy among Taiwanese cancer patients' last month of life (EOL radiotherapy) in 2001-2010 and to identify factors associated with EOL radiotherapy.



This was a population-based retrospective cohort study analyzing data from Taiwan's national death registry, cancer registry, and National Health Insurance claims for EOL radiotherapy using multilevel generalized linear mixed modeling. Participants were Taiwanese cancer patients (N = 339,546) who died in 2001-2010.



Overall, 8.59% (7.97%-9.85%) of patients underwent EOL radiotherapy with a decreasing trend over time. Correlates of EOL radiotherapy included male gender, younger age, residing in less urbanized areas, diagnosis of lung cancer, metastatic disease, death within two years of diagnosis, and without comorbidities. Cancer patients were more likely to undergo EOL radiotherapy if they received primary care from medical oncologists and pediatricians, in a nonprofit, teaching hospital with a larger case volume of terminally ill cancer patients, and greater EOL care intensity.



Approximately one-tenth of Taiwanese cancer patients underwent EOL radiotherapy with a decreasing trend over time. Undergoing EOL radiotherapy was associated with demographics, disease characteristics, physician specialty, and primary hospital's characteristics and EOL care practice patterns. Clinical and financial interventions should target hospitals/physicians that tend to aggressively treat at-risk cancer patients at EOL to carefully evaluate the appropriateness and effectiveness of using EOL radiotherapy.
School of Gerontology Health Management and Master Program in Long-Term Care, College of Nursing, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Republic of China.
Yen-Ni
YN
Hung
Department of Radiation Oncology, Koo Foundation Sun Yat-Sen Cancer Center, Taipei, Republic of China.
Skye Hung-Chun
SH
Cheng
National Institute of Cancer Research, National Health Research Institutes, Taipei, Republic of China.
Tsang-Wu
TW
Liu
Division of Hematology-Oncology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Wen-Cheng
WC
Chang
Division of Hematology-Oncology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Jen-Shi
JS
Chen
Chang Gung University Graduate School of Nursing and Department of Nursing, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China. Electronic address: sttang@mail.cgu.edu.tw.
Siew Tzuh
ST
Tang
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012424:Rural Population; D012737:Sex Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000639:trends*
Radiotherapy; administrative data analysis; end-of-life care; population-based study; quality of end-of-life care