Background: Although investigating patterns of cancer mortality is important in understanding the effect of cancer on population health, knowledge regarding mortality in cancer patients with disability is scarce. This study examined the association between disability status and all-cause mortality in older patients with colorectal cancer.
Methods: Data were obtained from the 2008-2019 National Health Insurance Service claims data. The study population included patients with colorectal cancer aged 60 years or above. The outcome measure was all-cause 5-year and overall mortality. A survival analysis was performed using the Cox proportional hazards model to analyze the association between all-cause mortality and disability status. Subgroup analysis was conducted based on disability severity.
Results: The study population consisted of 6340 patients, and disability was reported in 15.8% of the included individuals. Participants with disability had a higher risk of both all-cause 5-year (hazard ratio (HR) 1.21, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.07-1.37) and overall mortality (HR 1.15, 95% CI 1.03-1.28). These findings were particularly significant in individuals with severe rather than mild disability.
Conclusion: Older colorectal cancer patients with disabilities showed a higher risk of overall and 5-year all-cause mortality, which was evident in individuals with severe disabilities. The findings indicated disparities in mortality according to disability status. Further, we suggest that policies that can mediate such disparities must be strengthened.
Keywords: colorectal cancer; disability; mortality; older patients; survival.