TY - JOUR AU - Bhulani, Nizar AU - Gupta, Arjun AU - Gao, Ang AU - Li, Jenny AU - Guenther, Chad AU - Ahn, Chul AU - Paulk, Elizabeth AU - Houck, Stephanie AU - Beg, Muhammad S. PY - 2018 TI - Palliative care and end-of-life health care utilization in elderly patients with pancreatic cancer JF - Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology; Vol 9, No 3 (June 01, 2018): Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology Y2 - 2018 KW - N2 - Background: Palliative care has been associated with improved survival and quality of life, with lower rate of end-of-life health care utilization and cost. We examined trends in palliative care utilization in older pancreatic cancer patients. Methods: Pancreatic cancer patients with and without palliative care consults were identified using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database between 2000 and 2009. Trend of palliative care use was studied. Emergency room/intensive care unit (ICU) utilization and costs in the last 30 days of life were compared between both groups using propensity score-matched (PSM) analysis. Results: Of the 54,130 patients, 3,166 (5.8%) received palliative care and 70% received it in the last 30 days of life. The proportion of patients receiving palliative care increased from 1.4% in 2000 to 7.4% in 2009 (P Conclusions: In this study of Medicare patients with pancreatic cancer, palliative care use has increased between 2000 and 2009. Palliative care was largely offered close to the end of life and was not associated with reduced health care utilization or cost. UR - https://jgo.amegroups.org/article/view/20859