Patterns of surveillance imaging after nephrectomy in the Medicare population.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To characterize patterns of imaging surveillance after nephrectomy in a population-based cohort of older patients with kidney cancer.

Patients and methods

Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database, we identified patients aged ≥ 66 years who underwent partial or radical nephrectomy for localized kidney cancer diagnosed between 2000 and 2009. Primary outcomes were chest imaging (X-ray or computed tomography [CT]) and abdominal imaging (CT, MRI or ultrasonography) in Medicare claims from 4 to 36 months after surgery. We estimated the frequency of imaging in three time periods (postoperative months 4-12, 13-24, 25-36), stratified by tumour stage. Repeated-measures logistic regression was used to identify the patient and disease char

SUBMITTER: Feuerstein MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4426249 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature