Underutilization of parathyroidectomy in elderly patients with primary hyperparathyroidism

Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) disproportionately affects older patients, who may face higher thresholds for surgical intervention compared to young patients.

The aim was to examine for differences in the utilization of parathyroidectomy attributable to age.

We conducted a retrospective cohort study.

Patients with biochemically diagnosed PHPT during the years 1995-2008 were identified within an integrated health care delivery system in Southern California encompassing approximately 3 million individuals.

The outcome measures were parathyroidectomy (PTx) and time interval to surgery.

We found 3388 patients with PHPT, 964 (28%) of whom underwent PTx. Patients aged 60+ yr comprised 60% of the study cohort. The likelihood of PTx decreased linearly among patients aged 60+ when compared to patients aged 50-59, an effect that persisted in multivariate analysis: odds ratio 0.68 for ages 60-69 (P < 0.05); 0.41 for ages 70-79 (P < 0.0001), and 0.11 for age 80+ (P < 0.0001). The PTx rate for patients aged 70+ was 14%. Among patients meeting 2002 consensus criteria for surgical treatment, 45% of those aged 60-69 and 24% of those aged 70+ underwent PTx. A Cox proportional hazards model showed that patients aged 60+ experienced significantly longer delays from diagnosis to surgery compared to young patients (P < 0.0001).

PHPT is undertreated in the elderly. We observed a progressive age-related decline in PTx rate that renders patients aged 70+ unlikely to have definitive treatment, irrespective of comorbidity and eligibility for surgery.