Hospital Outcomes and Costs for Prostate Cancer Patients With Comorbid Heart Failure by Age Group: An Analysis of the U.S. Nationwide Inpatient Sample

OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of patients hospitalized with comorbid prostate cancer (PC) and heart failure (HF) has been steadily increasing. Both diseases share a set of common risk factors, with the most prominent being age. This study aimed to examine the outcomes and costs for patients with comorbid PC and HF, stratified by age.

METHODS: We analyzed 41,340 hospitalization events of patients with PC using the US National Inpatient Sample from Q4 2015-2018. Associations of HF with in-hospital mortality, length of stay, and hospital costs per hospitalization were measured using multivariable logistic regression, negative binomial regression, and generalized linear regression with log-link and gamma distribution, respectively, controlling for covariates. Subgroup analyses were performed for age groups <65 and ≥65.

RESULTS: Visits of comorbid HF patients made up 2.3% (n = 952) of the PC study sample. Compared to PC patients without HF, those with HF had higher in-hospital mortality rates (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 0.96-1.84, p = 0.085), longer hospital stays (IRR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.21-1.44, p < 0.001), and higher hospital costs (cost ratio = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.07-1.27, p = 0.001), controlling for covariates. On average, this amounted to a higher in-hospital mortality rate of 2.10%, an increased length of stay of 1.73 days, and higher hospital costs of $2,110 per patient. While in-hospital mortality did not differ significantly in patients aged <65 (p = 0.900), patients aged ≥65 had a 41% increased risk of in-hospital mortality compared to those without HF (p = 0.047).

CONCLUSIONS: In comparison to those without HF, PC patients with comorbid HF showed higher rates of in-hospital mortality, length of stay, and hospital costs, with mortality showing a significant difference exclusively in the ≥65 population. Effective management of older patients with PC is needed to improve outcomes and decrease costs.