The Determinants of Inpatient Palliative Care Use in Patients With Pancreatic Cancer

Symptom burden management is a major goal of pancreatic cancer care given that most patients are diagnosed late. Early palliative care is recommended in addition to concurrent active treatment; however, disparities exist. We sought to determine the factors associated with inpatient palliative treatment among pancreatic cancer patients and compare treatment outcomes in terms of mortality, discharge disposition and resource utilization.

We conducted a retrospective study of 22,053 pancreatic cancers using the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database (January - December 2020). Patient and hospital characteristics, mortality, discharge disposition, length of stay (LOS), hospital costs and charges were compared between pancreatic cancer patients based on palliative treatment. Multivariate regression was used to evaluate patient and hospital characteristics and outcomes associated with palliative treatment.

A total number of 3839 (17.4%) patients received palliative care. Patients who received palliative care were more likely to be older, Medicaid insured, and nonobese. Patients were less likely to receive palliative care if they are males, Medicare insured, had a lower Charlson comorbidity score, or treated in Urban nonteaching hospitals. Patients who received palliative care displayed higher odds of in-hospital mortality and prolonged LOS. The adjusted additional mean hospital cost and charges in patients who received palliative care were lower by $1459, and $4222 respectively.

Inpatient palliative treatment in pancreatic cancer patients is associated with an older age, a higher comorbidity burden, non-obesity, insurance status and urban teaching hospitals. Our study suggests that inpatient palliative treatment decreased hospital resource utilization without prolonging survival.