Evaluating Health Related Quality of Life and Healthcare Utilization Among Adults with Concurrent Cancer and Chronic Kidney Disease: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey

Objectives Cancer patients may suffer from kidney injury due to cancer itself and cancer-related therapy. But the burden of concurrent cancer and CKD on Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) and Health Resource Utilization (HRU) remains to be explored. This study aims to identify the patterns and factors associated with HRQOL and HRU in adults having Cancer and CKD. Methods This was a cross-sectional study using Medical Expenditure Panel Survey 2011 to 2019, with participants (> 18 years of age) with 5 cancers (Lung, Breast, Prostate, and Kidney) and CKD. To measure HRQoL, a Physical Component Summary (PCS) and a Mental Component Summary (MCS) were utilized. Multivariable linear and logistic regressions were used to evaluate factors associated with HRQoL and HRU, respectively. Results A total of 441 patients with Cancer and CKD (weighted n = 235,057) were consisted of > 45 years of age (81.1%), White (63.4%), and fitted into middle to high income group (67%). People at 45–64 years had significantly lowest MCS scores (beta=-1.62 [-1.91, -1.32], p = 0.001) when compared to 18–64 years of age. Sociodemographic factors such as low income (PCS vs MCS: -2.50[-3.38, -1.61] vs -1.17[-1.52, -0.81], p < 0.001), uninsured (-2.42[-2.83, -1.99] vs -2.38[-2.92, -1.83],p < 0.01), less than high school education (-2.5[-2.99, -2.01] vs -1.87[-2.28, -1.45], p < 0.001] are significantly associated with lower HRQoL. Both Cancer and CKD had significantly lower HRQOL when compared to with neither CKD nor Cancer group. Conclusion Our study suggests the importance of monitoring the renal functions among the Cancer patients to improve health care delivery through understanding the disease burden.