The impact of psychiatric utilisation prior to cancer diagnosis on survival of solid organ malignancies

Zachary Klaassen, Christopher J.D. Wallis, Hanan Goldberg, Thenappan Chandrasekar, Rashid K. Sayyid, Stephen B. Williams, Kelvin A. Moses, Martha K. Terris, Robert K. Nam, David Urbach, Peter C. Austin, Paul Kurdyak, Girish S. Kulkarni

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    30 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    Background: Among patients with cancer, prior research suggests that patients with mental illness may have reduced survival. The objective was to assess the impact of psychiatric utilisation (PU) prior to cancer diagnosis on survival outcomes. Methods: All residents of Ontario diagnosed with one of the top 10 malignancies (1997–2014) were included. The primary exposure was psychiatric utilisation gradient (PUG) score in 5 years prior to cancer: 0: none, 1: outpatient, 2: emergency department, 3: hospital admission. A multivariable, cause-specific hazard model was used to assess the effect of PUG score on cancer-specific mortality (CSM), and a Cox proportional hazard model for effect on all-cause mortality (ACM). Results: A toal of 676,125 patients were included: 359,465 (53.2%) with PUG 0, 304,559 (45.0%) PUG 1, 7901 (1.2%) PUG 2, and 4200 (0.6%) PUG 3. Increasing PUG score was independently associated with worse CSM, with an effect gradient across the intensity of pre-diagnosis PU (vs PUG 0): PUG 1 h 1.05 (95% CI 1.04–1.06), PUG 2 h 1.36 (95% CI 1.30–1.42), and PUG 3 h 1.73 (95% CI 1.63–1.84). Increasing PUG score was also associated with worse ACM. Conclusions: Pre-cancer diagnosis PU is independently associated with worse CSM and ACM following diagnosis among patients with solid organ malignancies.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)840-847
    Number of pages8
    JournalBritish Journal of Cancer
    Volume120
    Issue number8
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Apr 16 2019

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Oncology
    • Cancer Research

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