Trajectories of Hospitalization Cost Among Patients of End-Stage Lung Cancer: A Retrospective Study in China

Zhong Li, Shan Jiang, Ruibo He, Yihan Dong, Zijin Pan, Chengzhong Xu, Fangfang Lu, Pei Zhang and Liang Zhang
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Zhong Li: School of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China
Shan Jiang: School of Health Policy and Management, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, China
Ruibo He: School of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China
Yihan Dong: School of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China
Zijin Pan: School of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China
Chengzhong Xu: Yichang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Yichang 443000, China
Fangfang Lu: Yichang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Yichang 443000, China
Pei Zhang: Yichang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Yichang 443000, China
Liang Zhang: School of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-12

Abstract: This study was conducted to investigate the trajectory of hospitalization costs, and to assess the determinants related to the membership of the identified trajectories, with the view of recommending future research directions. A retrospective study was performed in urban Yichang, China, where a total of 134 end-stage lung cancer patients were selected. The latent class analysis (LCA) model was used to investigate the heterogeneity in the trajectory of hospitalization cost amongst the different groups that were identified. A multi-nominal logit model was applied to explore the attributes of different classes. Three classes were defined as follows: Class 1 represented the trajectory with minimal cost, which had increased over the last two months. Classes 2 and 3 consisted of patients that incurred high costs, which had declined with the impending death of the patient. Patients in class 3 had a higher average cost than those in Class 2. The level of education, hospitalization, and place of death, were the attributes of membership to the different classes. LCA was useful in quantifying heterogeneity amongst the patients. The results showed the attributes were embedded in hospitalization cost trajectories. These findings are applicable to early identification and intervention in palliative care. Future studies should focus on the validation of the proposed model in clinical settings, as well as to identify the determinants of early discharge or aggressive care.

Keywords: end-of-life; lung cancer; cost trajectory; place of death; palliative care; latent class analysis; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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