Prevalence and incidence of comorbidities associated with gastric cancer

Background: Understanding the burden of comorbidities in patients with gastric cancer may aid in treatment planning and evaluating the safety of new treatments. Methods: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)–Medicare combined dataset, we identified 12,612 patients diagnosed with gastric cancer 2000–2007. A cohort of 12,612 cancer-free individuals was frequency-matched by Medicare enrollment year and county of residence. Subjects were ≥66 years-old at index date to allow for ≥1 full year of Medicare coverage. Prevalence the year before index date and 3- and 12-month incidence rates (per 100 person-years) after index date were estimated for 42 common comorbidities. Results: Comorbidities with the highest (≥8%) 3-month incidence in patients with gastric cancer are shown. Conclusions: Comorbidity prevalence before index date was modestly higher, and incidence rates after index date were much higher in gastric cancer patients than in cancer-free individuals. The potential reasons for this include the increased diagnostic testing, physician visits, and reporting of morbidities that occurs with the diagnosis of cancer, as well as the effects of cancer and its treatment.

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