Predictors of recurrent hospital admissions among prostate cancer survivors

Cancer survivors often have poor outcomes compared to their peers without cancer. Mortality from prostate cancer has been steadily decreasing, and these cancer survivors have other comorbidities that progress over time. Current study explores the type of admissions and associated risk factors with recurrent hospitalizations among prostate cancer survivors. A retrospective review of medical records was performed at a single academic institution for male patients aged 40 years and older who were diagnosed with prostate cancer more than 2 years prior to the study’s observation period from January 2008 to December 2010. Unpaired t test and Chi-square tests were used to compare patients’ characteristics, and logistic regression models were used to assess risk factors association with recurrent admissions. In total, 245 prostate cancer survivors were stratified by single versus recurrent hospital admission. The characteristics of the study population were similar to the exception of mean Gleason score that was lower, while cardiovascular admissions and clinical comorbidities were higher in the recurrent group. In the multivariable regression analyses where sociodemographic, primary prostate cancer treatment-related sequelae and clinical comorbid conditions were simultaneously analyzed, congestive heart failure (OR 3.90, 95% CI 1.25–12.2) and history of metastasis (OR 8.10, 95% CI 1.10–60.1) were associated with recurrent hospital admissions. Prostate cancer survivors experience a greater number of recurrent admissions, and therefore, understanding the nature of these admissions and associated medical comorbidities may help us in developing screening or preventive strategies to reduce the readmissions for this group of cancer survivors.