Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2011, 223(1)

Profiling of the Care Processes for Laryngeal Cancer with the Japanese Administrative Database

YUKAKO ICHIMIYA,¹ SHINYA MATSUDA,¹ YOSHIHISA FUJINO,¹ TATSUHIKO KUBO,¹ ATSUHIKO MURATA,¹ KAZUAKI KUWABARA,² KENJI FUJIMORI³ and HIROMASA HORIGUCHI⁴

¹Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan
²Department of Health Care Administration and Management, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
³Division of Medical Management, Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan
⁴Department of Health Management and Policy, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo University, Tokyo, Japan

At present, there is a shortage of detailed data on head and neck cancer treatment in acute care hospitals in Japan. We conducted an analysis of the care process for laryngeal cancer inpatients in Japan using a national administrative database based on the case-mix system known as the Diagnosis Procedure Combination to evaluate the recent clinical situation of a relatively high incidence of head and neck cancers. We obtained discharge data relating to 2790 cases (one case = one hospitalization) involving 2319 laryngeal cancer patients from 346 acute care hospitals that participated in the Japanese national case-mix project between July and December of 2008. The details of their treatment procedures were analyzed according to the Japanese procedure codes managed by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare of Japan. There were 2156 male and 163 female patients. The median age was 69 years (range: 22-96 years). The most frequent surgical procedure was endoscopic resection which was performed for 781 cases. Chemotherapy was given in 31.6% of cases in the < 60 age group, 28.2% in the 60-79, and 14.1% in the ≥ 80. The most frequently used chemotherapy regimen was a single drug, S-1 (compound of tegafur, gimeracil and oteracil potassium), which was more frequently used in the ≥ 70 age group than in the younger age group. The Diagnosis Procedure Combination database, which collects a large volume of data from all over the country, is useful for analysis of the care process for head and neck cancers in Japan.

keywords —— Laryngeal cancer; care process; DPC database; endoscopic resection; S-1

© 2011 Tohoku University Medical Press

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2011, 223, 61-66

Correspondence: Yukako Ichimiya, M.D., Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1-1 Iseigaoka, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu 807-8555, Japan.

e-mail: y-ichimiya@kitakyu-hp.or.jp, yichimiya@med.uoeh-u.ac.jp