Frequency of comorbid illnesses in cancer patients in Turkey

Comorbidities in cancer patients can adversely affect the management and outcome of their primary illnesses at all levels from diagnosis to therapy. We sought to examine comorbid conditions of cancer patients, treated at 4 university hospitals, each representing a different geographic location in Turkey.

A total of 769 consecutive cancer patients presenting to outpatient clinics were recruited between November 2007 and May 2008. The patients filled in a questionnaire on comorbidities. Based on the questionnaire, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI( was calculated.

The patient median age was 55 years (range 21-87) and 456 (59.3%) were female. Breast (36.5%), colorectal (21.4%) and lung cancers (13.9%) were the 3 most frequent malignancies. Of the patients, 59.3% had at least one comorbid disease and 46.3% were using at least one medication daily. The most frequent comorbidities were hypertension (25.3%), diabetes mellitus (13.1%) and peptic ulcer (7.7%). Increasing age positively correlated with the extent of comorbidities (r=0.30, p<0.001), number of medications (r=0.32, p<0.001) and the CCI (r=0.20, p<0.001).

It is crucial to remember that comorbid illnesses are not rare and many patients are treated for conditions unrelated to their cancer, which potentially may affect various stages of their clinical management.