Prevalence of Cachexia and Outcomes in Patients With Chronic Diseases: A National Database Analysis of 5 484 103...

Cachexia is a frequent companion of chronic diseases and a well-established predictor of poor patient performance and outcome. Since cachexia as a discharge diagnosis is not much investigated, we aimed to investigate prevalence of cachexia in hospitalised patients and their outcome.

We conducted a retrospective analysis of the National Hospital Health Care Statistics Database using the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases codes. During period 2004-2019, patients with cachexia were identified, as well as patients with cancer, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic kidney disease. The primary endpoint was the discharge code of cachexia; secondary endpoints were length of hospital stay, in-hospital and post discharge all-cause mortality.

In period 2004-2019, 5 484 103 hospitalisations were screened; cachexia was coded 19 348 times (0.35%) in 14 089 patients (67 ± 13 years, 42% women). From 2004 to 2019, prevalence of cachexia increased steadily from 1.2% to 1.9%, which was most prominent for cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. At one year post discharge, 49% patients with cachexia were dead as compared to 26% in patients without cachexia. In Cox multivariate analysis, cachexia predicted post-discharge death in any of chronic diseases (hazard ratio of 1.28 in heart failure to 1.47 in chronic kidney disease).

In our report from a National Hospital Health Care Statistics Database, we found that cachexia was underreported as ICD-10 coded discharge diagnosis in patients with chronic diseases. When diagnosed, it was associated with higher hazard of post discharge mortality.