Background: Despite advances in treatment, multiple myeloma (MM) remains incurable and results in significant morbidity and mortality. Further research investigating where MM patients die and characterization of end-of-life hospitalizations is needed.
Methods: We utilized the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) to explore the hospitalization burden of MM patients at the end of their lives.
Results: The percent of patients dying in the hospital as a percent of overall MM deaths ranged from 54% in 2002 to 41.4% in 2017 (p < 0.01). Blood transfusions were received in 32.7% of these hospitalizations and infections were present in 47.8% of patients. Palliative care and/or hospice consultations ranged from 5.3% in 2002 to 31.4% in 2017 (p < 0.01).
Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that patients with MM dying in the hospital have a significant requirement for blood transfusions and have a high infection burden. We also show that palliative care and hospice involvement at the end of life has increased over time but remains low, and that ultimately, inpatient mortality has decreased over time, but MM patients die in the hospital at a higher rate than the general population.
Keywords: Death; Hospice; Hospital; Inpatient; Multiple myeloma; National inpatient sample; Palliative care.