Health Care Use Among Cancer Patients With Diabetes, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2017-2020.

INTRODUCTION

Diabetes is a common comorbidity among people with cancer. The objective of our study was to examine patterns of health care use among patients with cancer and either type 2 diabetes or prediabetes.

METHODS

We used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for 2017-2020. The study population included US adults aged 18 years or older who were diagnosed with any cancer and type 2 diabetes or prediabetes (established by self-report and/or hemoglobin A measurement). We used Poisson and multivariate logistic regression models to determine the effect of comorbidity on health care use, defined as health care visits and overnight stays in a hospital.

RESULTS

Of 905 cancer patients representing 27,180,715 people in the US, 24.4% had a type 2 diabetes diagnosis, and 25.8% had a prediabetes diagnosis. Patients with cancer and prediabetes had a significantly higher rate of health care visits (incidence rate ratio = 1.11; 95% CI, 1.01-1.22; P = .03) than patients with cancer only. We found no significant association between having cancer and type 2 diabetes and the number of health care visits or overnight hospital stays compared with patients with cancer only.

CONCLUSION

More emphasis should be placed on optimal care coordination among people with cancer and other conditions, such as diabetes and prediabetes, to reduce the impact of comorbidity on health care use. Interventions integrated with technology to provide timely access to education on preventing or managing diabetes and prediabetes among cancer patients are warranted.