Patterns of Healthcare Services Among Children With Advanced Cancer in Concurrent Hospice Care

Children with advanced cancer have access to comprehensive cancer care and hospice care if they enroll in concurrent hospice care. However, little is known about the patterns of nonhospice healthcare services used by these children.

The aim of this study was to examine the patterns of nonhospice healthcare services among children with cancer in concurrent hospice care.

This study was a retrospective cohort analysis of 2011-2013 Medicaid claims data from 862 pediatric cancer patients. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and latent class analysis (LCA).

Children used 120 388 healthcare services, including inpatient and outpatient hospital services, laboratories and x-rays, durable medical equipment, medications, and others. These services clustered into 2 classes with moderate-intensity (57.49%) and high-intensity (42.50%) healthcare service use. Children in the high-intensity cluster were more likely to reside in the South with comorbidities, mental/behavioral health conditions, and technology dependence and were less likely to have solid tumors, compared with the moderate-intensity group.

Nonhospice healthcare services clustered together in 2 distinct classes, providing critical insight into the complexity of the healthcare use among children with cancer in concurrent hospice care.

Understanding that pediatric patients in concurrent care may have different healthcare service patterns may assist oncology nurses caring for children with advanced cancer. These findings also have policy implications.