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IMPORTANCE: Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) recognize days spent at home (home time) vs in a hospital or nursing facility as an important factor in treatment decision making. No study has adequately described home time among older adults with AML. OBJECTIVE: To describe home time among older adults with AML (aged ≥66 years) and compare home time between 2 common treatments: anthracycline-based chemotherapy and hypomethylating agents (HMAs). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A cohort of adults aged 66 years or older with a new diagnosis of AML from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database in 2004 to 2016 was identified. Individuals were stratified into anthracycline-based therapy, HMAs, or chemotherapy, not otherwise specified (NOS) using claims. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary outcome was home time, quantified by subtracting the total number of person-days spent in hospitals and nursing facilities from the number of person-days survived and dividing by total person-days. A weighted multinomial regression model with stabilized inverse probability of treatment weighting to estimate adjusted home time was used. RESULTS: The cohort included 7946 patients with AML: 2824 (35.5%) received anthracyclines, 2542 (32.0%) HMAs, and 2580 (32.5%) were classified as chemotherapy, NOS. Median (IQR) survival was 11.0 (5.0-27.0) months for those receiving anthracyclines and 8.0 (3.0-17.0) months for those receiving HMAs. Adjusted home time for all patients in the first year was 52.4%. Home time was highest among patients receiving HMAs (60.8%) followed by those receiving anthracyclines (51.9%). Despite having a shorter median survival, patients receiving HMAs had more total days at home and 33 more days at home in the first year on average than patients receiving anthracyclines (222 vs 189). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This retrospective study of older adults with AML using SEER-Medicare data and propensity score weighting suggests that the additional survival afforded by receiving anthracycline-based therapy was entirely offset by admission to the hospital or to nursing facilities.

In an era of rapid expansion of FDA approvals for oral anticancer agents (OAAs), it is important to understand the factors associated with survival among real-world populations, which include groups not well-represented in pivotal clinical trials of OAAs, such as the elderly, racial minorities, and medically complex patients. Our objective was to evaluate patient- and provider-level characteristics’ associations with mortality among a multi-payer cohort of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients who initiated OAAs.

Contemporary testis cancer management requires fastidious adherence to clinical guidelines and care principles, especially for those pursuing active surveillance (AS). However, real-world testis cancer care remains largely undescribed. Accordingly, we sought to assess the rigor of evaluation and monitoring among men with testis cancer.

BACKGROUND: Substantial racial and socioeconomic disparities in metastatic RCC (mRCC) have persisted following the introduction of targeted oral anticancer agents (OAAs). The relationship between patient characteristics and OAA access and costs that may underlie persistent disparities in mRCC outcomes have not been examined in a nationally representative patient population.METHODS: Retrospective SEER-Medicare analysis of patients diagnosed with mRCC between 2007–2015 over age 65 with Medicare part D prescription drug coverage. Associations between patient characteristics, OAA receipt, and associated costs were analyzed in the 12 months following mRCC diagnosis and adjusted to 2015 dollars.RESULTS: 2,792 patients met inclusion criteria, of which 32.4%received an OAA. Most patients received sunitinib (57%) or pazopanib (28%) as their first oral therapy. Receipt of OAA did not differ by race/ethnicity or socioeconomic indicators. Patients of advanced age (>?80 years), unmarried patients, and patients residing in the Southern US were less likely to receive OAAs. The mean inflation-adjusted 30-day cost to Medicare of a patient’s first OAA prescription nearly doubled from $3864 in 2007 to $7482 in 2015, while patient out-of-pocket cost decreased from $2409 to $1477.CONCLUSION: Race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status were not associated with decreased OAA receipt in patients with mRCC; however, residing in the Southern United States was, as was marital status. Surprisingly, the cost to Medicare of an initial OAA prescription nearly doubled from 2007 to 2015, while patient out-of-pocket costs decreased substantially. Shifts in OAA costs may have significant economic implications in the era of personalized medicine.

Substantial racial and socioeconomic disparities in metastatic RCC (mRCC) have persisted following the introduction of targeted oral anticancer agents (OAAs). The relationship between patient characteristics and OAA access and costs that may underlie persistent disparities in mRCC outcomes have not been examined in a nationally representative patient population. Retrospective SEER-Medicare analysis of patients diagnosed with mRCC between 2007–2015 over age 65 with Medicare part D prescription drug coverage. Associations between patient characteristics, OAA receipt, and associated costs were analyzed in the 12 months following mRCC diagnosis and adjusted to 2015 dollars. 2,792 patients met inclusion criteria, of which 32.4%received an OAA. Most patients received sunitinib (57%) or pazopanib (28%) as their first oral therapy. Receipt of OAA did not differ by race/ethnicity or socioeconomic indicators. Patients of advanced age (>  80 years), unmarried patients, and patients residing in the Southern US were less likely to receive OAAs. The mean inflation-adjusted 30-day cost to Medicare of a patient’s first OAA prescription nearly doubled from $3864 in 2007 to $7482 in 2015, while patient out-of-pocket cost decreased from $2409 to $1477. Race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status were not associated with decreased OAA receipt in patients with mRCC; however, residing in the Southern United States was, as was marital status. Surprisingly, the cost to Medicare of an initial OAA prescription nearly doubled from 2007 to 2015, while patient out-of-pocket costs decreased substantially. Shifts in OAA costs may have significant economic implications in the era of personalized medicine.

A study was conducted which aimed at determining the energy expenditure in terms of caloric cost and metabolic equivalents of activities commonly performed by children and adolescents. The results indicated that the energy expenditure per kilogram of body mass at rest or during exercise is greater in children than adults and varies with puberty status.

IMPORTANCE: Timely receipt of treatment for cancer is an important aspect of health care quality. It is unknown how delays of surgery for melanoma vary by insurance type. OBJECTIVE: To analyze factors associated with delays between diagnosis and surgery for melanoma in patients with Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Retrospective cohort study of patients who received a diagnosis of melanoma between 2004 and 2011 in North Carolina using data from the North Carolina Cancer Registry linked to administrative claims from Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance. Inclusion criteria were incident patients with a diagnosis of melanoma stage 0 to III and with continuous insurance enrollment from at least 1 month prior to the month of diagnosis to 12 months after diagnosis of melanoma. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Surgical delay, defined as definitive surgical excision occurring more than 6 weeks after melanoma diagnosis. Generalized linear models with log link, Poisson distributions, and robust standard errors were used to estimate adjusted risk ratios (RRs) to model risk of delay in definitive surgery. RESULTS: A total of 7629 patients were included (4210 [55%] female; mean [SD] age, 64 [15] years), 48% (n = 3631) Medicare, 48% (n = 3667) privately insured, and 4% (n = 331) Medicaid patients. Privately insured patients were least likely to experience a delay in definitive surgery, followed by Medicare and Medicaid patients (519 [14%], 609 [17%], and 79 [24%], respectively; P < .001). After demographic adjustment, the risk of surgical delay was significantly increased in patients with Medicaid compared with private insurance (RR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.09-1.70). Delays were more likely in nonwhite patients (RR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.02-1.87). Surgical delays were less likely if the physician performing the surgery (RR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.72-0.93) or the diagnosing clinician (RR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.71-0.93) was a dermatologist as compared with a nondermatologist. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: Surgical treatment delays were common but were less prevalent in patients diagnosed or surgically treated by a dermatologist. Medicaid patients experienced the most surgical delays. A reduction in delays in melanoma surgery could be achieved through better access to specialty care and cross-disciplinary coordination.

Objective: To examine physical activity in second grade American Indian children as a predictor of percentage body fat 3 years later. Research Methods and Procedures: Physical activity was assessed as average vector magnitude (AVM) counts from an accelerometer in 454 second grade children as part of the Pathways study. BMI was assessed, and skinfolds and bioelectrical impedance were used to estimate fat mass, fat‐free body mass, and percentage body fat in validated prediction equations. Associations were examined using mixed models regression controlling for baseline body composition. Results: In normal‐weight children, higher AVM counts were significantly associated with decreases in percentage body fat. Among overweight children, higher AVM counts were significantly associated with increases in BMI, fat mass, and fat‐free mass but not percentage body fat. Discussion: Higher physical activity levels in second grade were associated with lower levels of percentage body fat in fifth grade in normal‐weight but not in overweight children. BMI showed no association with physical activity among normal‐weight children, and increases in BMI were associated with increasing amounts of physical activity among overweight children. These findings emphasize the importance of valid body composition measures and may indicate important differences in associations between physical activity and adiposity in normal‐weight as compared with overweight children.