Felix G Fernandez1, Anthony P Furnary2, Andrzej S Kosinski3, Mark W Onaitis3, Sunghee Kim3, Daniel Boffa4, Patricia Cowper3, Jeffrey P Jacobs5, Cameron D Wright6, Joe B Putnam7. 1. Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. Electronic address: felix.fernandez@emoryhealthcare.org. 2. Starr-Wood Cardiac Group, Portland, Oregon. 3. Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. 4. Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. 5. Johns Hopkins All Children's Heart Institute, St. Petersburg, Florida. 6. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. 7. Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center, Jacksonville, Florida.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) General Thoracic Surgery Database (GTSD) does not capture long-term survival after lung cancer surgery. Our objective was to provide longitudinal follow-up to the STS GTSD through linkage to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data for patients 65 years of age or older. METHODS: Lung cancer operations reported in the STS GTSD from 2002 through 2012 were linked to CMS data for patients 65 years of age or older using variables common to both databases with a deterministic matching algorithm. Mortality data were abstracted for each linked patient from the CMS data. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate long-term survival for lung cancer surgery patients based on tumor stage. RESULTS: From 2002 through 2012, 60,089 lung cancer resections were identified in the GTSD, and 37,009 (61.7%) were in patients 65 years or older. Of these, 26,055 of 37,099 lung cancer resections (70%) in patients 65 years or older were successfully linked to CMS data. Failure to link was most commonly related to having a health maintenance organization or commercial insurance as the primary payer: 40.5% (5,290 of 13,065) of such patients were not linked from 2009 to 2012 (years payer data available). Median survival after lung cancer resection was 6.7 years for pathologic stage I, 3.5 years for stage II, 2.4 years for stage III, and 2.2 years for stage IV. CONCLUSIONS: The CMS data complement the STS GTSD data by enabling examination of long-term survival and resource utilization in patients 65 years or older. Linked data from the STS GTSD and the CMS will allow for longitudinal analyses of comparative effectiveness among different surgical approaches for the treatment of lung cancer.
BACKGROUND: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) General Thoracic Surgery Database (GTSD) does not capture long-term survival after lung cancer surgery. Our objective was to provide longitudinal follow-up to the STS GTSD through linkage to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data for patients 65 years of age or older. METHODS:Lung cancer operations reported in the STS GTSD from 2002 through 2012 were linked to CMS data for patients 65 years of age or older using variables common to both databases with a deterministic matching algorithm. Mortality data were abstracted for each linked patient from the CMS data. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate long-term survival for lung cancer surgery patients based on tumor stage. RESULTS: From 2002 through 2012, 60,089 lung cancer resections were identified in the GTSD, and 37,009 (61.7%) were in patients 65 years or older. Of these, 26,055 of 37,099 lung cancer resections (70%) in patients 65 years or older were successfully linked to CMS data. Failure to link was most commonly related to having a health maintenance organization or commercial insurance as the primary payer: 40.5% (5,290 of 13,065) of such patients were not linked from 2009 to 2012 (years payer data available). Median survival after lung cancer resection was 6.7 years for pathologic stage I, 3.5 years for stage II, 2.4 years for stage III, and 2.2 years for stage IV. CONCLUSIONS: The CMS data complement the STS GTSD data by enabling examination of long-term survival and resource utilization in patients 65 years or older. Linked data from the STS GTSD and the CMS will allow for longitudinal analyses of comparative effectiveness among different surgical approaches for the treatment of lung cancer.
Authors: Daniel Boffa; Felix G Fernandez; Sunghee Kim; Andrzej Kosinski; Mark W Onaitis; Patricia Cowper; Jeffrey P Jacobs; Cameron D Wright; Joe B Putnam; Anthony P Furnary Journal: Ann Thorac Surg Date: 2017-05-17 Impact factor: 4.330
Authors: Nichole T Tanner; Lin Dai; Brett C Bade; Mulugeta Gebregziabher; Gerard A Silvestri Journal: Am J Respir Crit Care Med Date: 2017-09-01 Impact factor: 21.405