Use of inpatient palliative care in metastatic urethral cancer

In metastatic urethral cancer, temporal trends, and patterns of inpatient palliative care (IPC) use are unknown.

Relying on the National Inpatient Sample (2006-2019), metastatic urethral cancer patients were stratified according to IPC use. Estimated annual percentage changes (EAPC) analyses and multivariable logistic regression models (LRM) for the prediction of IPC use were fitted.

Of 1,106 metastatic urethral cancer patients, 199 (18%) received IPC. IPC use increased from 5.8 to 28.0% over time in the overall cohort (EAPC +9.8%; P < 0.001), from <12.5 to 35.1% (EAPC +11.2%; P < 0.001), and from <12.5 to 24.7% (EAPC +9.4%; P = 0.01) in respectively females and males. Lowest IPC rates were recorded in the Midwest (13.5%) vs. highest in the South (22.5%). IPC patients were more frequently female (44 vs. 37%), and more frequently exhibited bone metastases (45 vs. 34%). In multivariable LRM, female sex (multivariable odds ratio [OR] 1.46, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05-2.02; P = 0.02), and bone metastases (OR 1.46, 95%CI 1.02-2.10; P = 0.04) independently predicted higher IPC rates. Conversely, hospitalization in the Midwest (OR 0.53, 95%CI 0.31-0.91; P = 0.02), and in the Northeast (OR 0.48, 95%CI 0.28-0.82; P = 0.01) were both associated with lower IPC use than hospitalization in the West.

IPC use in metastatic urethral cancer increased from a marginal rate of 5.8% to as high as 28%. Ideally, differences according to sex, metastatic site, and region should be addressed to improve IPC use rates.