High-Intensity End-of-Life Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries with Bladder Cancer

UPMC Department of Urology physicians Benjamin Davies, MD, and Bruce Jacobs, MD, MPH, were authors in  a study published in Urologic Oncology titled, “High-Intensity End-of-Life Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries with Bladder Cancer.” 

This study aimed to quantify the proportion of patients receiving high-intensity end-of-life care, identify associated risk factors, and assess how palliative care impacts end-of-life care.
Researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with bladder cancer who died within one year of diagnosis. The primary outcome was a composite measure of high-intensity end-of-life care while secondary outcomes included the use of high-intensity end-of-life care over time and any association with the use of palliative care. 

Researchers found that 45% of patients received high-intensity end-of-life care and patients who received that care had higher rates of comorbidities, advanced bladder cancer, and nonbladder cancer cause of death. Those patients were more likely to receive palliative care; however, when compared to those not receiving high-intensity care, palliative care happened further from diagnosis and closer to death. 

Learn more about the study here. 

Reference

Lee A. Hugar, Jonathan G. Yabes, Pauline Filippou, Elizabeth M. Wulff-Burchfield, Samia H. Lopa, John Gore, Benjamin J. Davies, Bruce L. Jacobs. High-intensity end-of-life care among Medicare beneficiaries with bladder cancer. Urologic Oncology: Seminars and Original Investigations. 2021. ISSN 1078-1439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urolonc.2021.02.008.