Comparison of medical outcomes and health care costs at the end of life between dialysis patients with and without cancer: a national population-based study

Comparing Multiple Linear Regression and Machine Learning in Predicting Diabetic Urine Albumin–Creatinine Ratio in a 4-Year Follow-Up Study

The urine albumin–creatinine ratio (uACR) is a warning for the deterioration of renal function in type 2 diabetes (T2D). The early detection of ACR has become an important issue. Multiple linear regression (MLR) has traditionally been used to explore the relationships between risk factors and endpoints. Recently, machine learning (ML) methods have been widely applied in medicine. In the present study, four ML methods were used to predict the uACR in a T2D cohort. We hypothesized that (1) ML outperforms traditional MLR and (2) different ranks of the importance of the risk factors will be obtained. A total of 1147 patients with T2D were followed up for four years. MLR, classification and regression tree, random forest, stochastic gradient boosting, and eXtreme gradient boosting methods were used. Our findings show that the prediction errors of the ML methods are smaller than those of MLR, which indicates that ML is more accurate. The first six most important factors were baseline creatinine level, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin, and fasting plasma glucose. In conclusion, ML might be more accurate in predicting uACR in a T2D cohort than the traditional MLR, and the baseline creatinine level is the most important predictor, which is followed by systolic and diastolic blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin, and fasting plasma glucose in Chinese patients with T2D.

Cost of End-of-Life Inpatient Encounters in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease in the United States: A Report from the DISCOVER CKD Retrospective Cohort

Introduction

Real-world data reporting healthcare resource utilisation and costs associated with end-of-life care for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are limited. We examined length of hospitalisation and costs associated with end-of-life inpatient encounters using retrospective data from DISCOVER CKD.

Methods

Data on inpatient encounters for patients with CKD aged ≥ 18 years between January 2016 and March 2020 were extracted from the US Premier Hospital Database. Encounters ending in death were identified and grouped by reason for the encounter, using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, and by their insurance coverage. Encounters were evaluated overall and stratified according to cardiovascular (CV), kidney failure and infection-related reasons, and by their coverage by commercial, Medicaid, Medicare or other insurers. Length of hospitalisation and total costs were calculated for encounters.

Results

Among 237,734 encounters ending in death, the mean [standard deviation (SD)] age was 74.2 (12.4) years, and 45.3% of patients were female. In total, 25,118, 4210 and 76,307 encounters were classified as relating to CV reasons, kidney failure and infection, respectively. Among all encounters, the mean (SD) length of hospitalisation ranged from 9.1 (11.2) (Medicare) to 12.8 (18.4) (Medicaid) days. Across insurers, encounters related to kidney failure were associated with the longest hospitalisations compared with CV and infection [mean range (days): 10.7–15.9 vs. 7.5–10.5 and 8.7–12.7, respectively]. The median [interquartile range (IQR)] total cost of any inpatient encounter was $17,057 ($8040–35,873). Kidney failure-related encounters had higher costs compared with CV and infection [median (IQR), $18,469 ($8673–38,315) vs. $17,503 ($7766–39,693) and $16,403 ($7762–34,910), respectively]. Medicaid-covered encounters had the highest costs of all insurers [median (IQR), $16,189 ($7725–33,443)].

Conclusions

Among patients with CKD, end-of-life encounters were most frequently related to infection. Encounters relating to kidney failure incurred the highest costs.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04034992.

Graphical Abstract

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12325-021-02010-3.

Comparison of out-of-pocket expenditure and catastrophic health expenditure for severe disease by the health security system: based on end-stage renal disease in South Korea

Background

Korea’s health security system named the National Health Insurance and Medical Aid has revolutionized the nation’s mandatory health insurance and continues to reduce excessive copayments. However, few studies have examined healthcare utilization and expenditure by the health security system for severe diseases. This study looked at reverse discrimination regarding end-stage renal disease by the National Health Insurance and Medical Aid.

Methods

A total of 305 subjects were diagnosed with end-stage renal disease in the Korea Health Panel from 2008 to 2013. Chi-square, t-test, and ANCOVA were conducted to identify the healthcare utilization rate, out-of-pocket expenditure, and the prevalence of catastrophic expenditure. Mixed effect panel analysis was used to evaluate total out-of-pocket expenditure by the National Health Insurance and Medical Aid over a 6-year period.

Results

There were no significant differences in the healthcare utilization rate for emergency room visits, admissions, or outpatient department visits between the National Health Insurance and Medical Aid because these healthcare services were essential for individuals with serious diseases, such as end-stage renal disease. Meanwhile, each out-of-pocket expenditure for an admission and the outpatient department by the National Health Insurance was 2.6 and 3.1 times higher than that of Medical Aid (P < 0.05). The total out-of-pocket expenditure, including that for emergency room visits, admission, outpatient department visits, and prescribed drugs, was 2.9 times higher for the National Health Insurance than Medical Aid (P < 0.001). Over a 6-year period, in terms of total of out-of-pocket expenditure, subjects with the National Health Insurance spent more than those with Medical Aid (P < 0.01). If the total household income decile was less than the median and subjects were covered by the National Health Insurance, the catastrophic health expenditure rate was 92.2%, but it was only 58.8% for Medical Aid (P < 0.001).

Conclusion

Individuals with serious diseases, such as end-stage renal disease, can be faced with reverse discrimination depending on the type of insurance that is provided by the health security system. It is necessary to consider individuals who have National Health Insurance but are still poor.

Utilization of hospice and nonhospice care in patients with end-stage renal disease on dialysis

Objectives:

The prevalence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and the number of patients undergoing dialysis in Taiwan are high. Since September 2009, the National Health Insurance has started to provide hospice care to patients with renal failure in Taiwan. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the use of hospice and nonhospice care in patients with ESRD on dialysis. We aim to understand trends in patients with ESRD receiving hospice and nonhospice care as well as medical care efforts during the last month of their lives (2009–2013).

Materials and Methods:

The cohort study was conducted using 1 million randomly selected samples from the Taiwan Health Insurance Research Database for millions of people in Taiwan in 2009–2013. Descriptive statistics were presented to summarize the characteristics of data. To compare differences between cohorts, Chi-square tests and Student's t-tests were used. Mann–Whitney U-tests were performed for nonnormally distributed data. Mantel–Haenszel test was test for trend.

Results:

We recruited 770 ESRD patients who underwent hemodialysis; among them, 154 patients received hospice care. Patients who received hospice care had a significantly longer survival time after removal of mechanical ventilator (20 vs. 0 days) and after discontinuation of dialysis (2 vs. 0 days) compared with those who did not receive hospice care. Patients who received hospice care had more pain control (61.04% vs. 17.37%, P < 0.0001) and other symptomatic control (55.84% vs. 43.18% with diuretics, P < 0.05; 64.29% and 48.21% with laxatives, P = 0.0004) medications than those who did not. Nevertheless, the overall medical cost in the hospice group was significantly lower (90 USD and 280 USD, P < 0.0001).

Conclusion:

Our results suggest that the addition of hospice care may permit patients a longer life-support-free survival time. In addition, despite a more frequent symptomatic controlling agent use, hospice care significantly reduced the overall medical expenditure.

A comparative study on decision and documentation of refraining from resuscitation in two medical home care units in Sweden

Background

A decision to refrain from cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the case of cardiac arrest is recommended in terminally ill patients to avoid unnecessary suffering at time of death. The aim of this study was to describe the frequency of decisions and documentation of “do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation” (DNACPR) in two Medical Home Care Units in Stockholm. Unit A had written guidelines about how to document CPR-decisions in the medical records, including a requirement for a decision to be taken (CPR: yes/no) while Unit B had no such requirement.

Method

The medical records for all patients in palliative phase of their disease at the two Units were reviewed. Data was collected on documentation of decisions about CPR (yes/no), DNACPR-decisions and documentation regarding whether the patient or next-of-kin had been informed about the DNACPR-decision.

Results

In the two Units, 316 and 219 patients in palliative phase were identified. In Unit A 100% of the patients had a CPR-decision (yes/no) compared to 79% in Unit B (p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in DNACPR-decisions between the two Units, 43 and 37%. Documentation about informing the patient regarding the decision was significantly higher in Unit A, 53% compared to 14% at Unit B (p < 0.001). Documentation about informing the next-of-kin was also significantly higher at Unit A; 42% compared to 6% at Unit B (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Less than 50% of patients in palliative phase had a decision of DNACPR in two Medical Home Care Units in Stockholm. The presence of written guidelines and a requirement for a CPR-decision did not increase the frequency of DNACPR-decisions but was associated with a higher frequency of documentation of decisions and of information given to both the patients and the next-of-kin.