Medical Utilization of Emergency Departments among Patients with Prostate Cancer: A Nationwide Population-Based Study in Taiwan

Jui-Ming Liu, Ren-Jun Hsu, Yu-Tang Chen and Yueh-Ping Liu
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Jui-Ming Liu: Department of Urology, Taoyuan General Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taoyuan 330, Taiwan
Ren-Jun Hsu: Cancer Center, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien 970, Taiwan
Yu-Tang Chen: Cancer Center, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien 970, Taiwan
Yueh-Ping Liu: Department of Emergency Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei 100, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-8

Abstract: (1) Background: In Taiwan, prostate cancer is a major malignancy with an increasing incidence among men. This study explores the medical utilization of emergency departments among patients with prostate cancer in Taiwan. (2) Methods: This nationwide, population-based study was conducted via a cross-sectional method based on the Registry for Catastrophic Illness Patient Database from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database. Patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer between 1997 and 2013 were enrolled in the study and divided into four treatment-related groups. The rate of emergency department presentation, disease categorization of emergency department visits, emergency department-related medical expenditures, and temporal trends were investigated. (3) Results: A total of 18,728 patients with prostate cancer were identified between 1997 and 2013, for whom 13,098 emergency department visits were recorded. The number of emergency department visits increased during the study period. The incidence rate for the medical utilization of emergency department visits was 822 per 1000 people during the study period. The incidence rates for patients with prostate cancer in the radical prostatectomy, radiotherapy, androgen deprivation therapy, and chemotherapy groups were 549, 1611, 1101, and 372, respectively. The average medical expenditure per emergency department visit was TWD 3779.8 ± 5116.2, and the expenditure was recorded for the chemotherapy group at TWD 4690.8 ± 7043.3. The most common disease diagnoses among patients with prostate cancer who presented to the emergency department were injury/poisoning (16.79%), genitourinary disorders (10.66%), and digestive disorders (10.48%). (4) Conclusions: This nationwide population-based study examined the emergency department visits of patients with prostate cancer in Taiwan, providing useful information for improving the quality of medical care.

Keywords: prostate cancer; emergency department; National Health Insurance Research Database (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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