Table 1.
Characteristics of 37,862 Medicare beneficiaries aged 75 and older who underwent resection of colon cancer from 1992 to 2005 in the SEER-Medicare database (% indicates column percentage).
| Characteristic | N (%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | ||
| 75–84 | 27,433 (72%) | |
| ≥85 | 10,429 (28%) | |
| Female gender | 23,312 (62%) | |
| Race/Ethnicity | White | 33,099 (87%) |
| Black | 2,074 (5%) | |
| Other | 2,689 (7%) | |
| Marital status | Married | 16,714 (44%) |
| Widowed | 15,964 (42%) | |
| Single, separated or divorced | 3,889 (10%) | |
| Unknown | 1,295 (3%) | |
| Median household income ($), mean (SD) | 38,675 (17,238) | |
| Less than 12 yr. education (%), mean (SD) | 20 (12) | |
| SEER registry | Connecticut | 4,137 (11%) |
| Detroit | 3,766 (10%) | |
| Hawaii | 592 (2%) | |
| Iowa | 5,010 (13%) | |
| New Mexico | 859 (2%) | |
| Seattle | 2,662 (7%) | |
| Utah | 1,058 (3%) | |
| Atlanta & Rural Georgia | 1,373 (4%) | |
| Kentucky | 1,745 (5%) | |
| Louisiana | 1,394 (4%) | |
| New Jersey | 4,127 (11%) | |
| California | 11,139 (29%) | |
| Residence location | Major metropolitan area | 21,224 (56%) |
| Metropolitan or urban | 12,806 (34%) | |
| Less Urban or Rural | 3,830 (10%) | |
| HCC comorbidity score, mean (SD) | 2.0 (1.3) | |
| Hospitalized in the year before surgery | 10,986 (29%) | |
| Cancer stage | I | 8,980 (24%) |
| II | 16,486 (44%) | |
| III | 10,964 (29%) | |
| Unstaged | 1,432 (4%) | |
| Tumor grade | Well-differentiated | 3,425 (9%) |
| Moderately differentiated | 25,054 (66%) | |
| Poorly differentiated or undifferentiated | 7,769 (20%) | |
| Unknown | 1,614 (4%) | |
| Admission Type | Emergent Admission | 8,084 (21%) |
| Urgent Admission | 22,729 (60%) | |
| Others | 7,049 (19%) | |
| Colon Cancer Location | Right | 21,995 (58%) |
| Transverse | 3,825 (10%) | |
| Left | 3,225 (8%) | |
| Sigmoid | 8,195 (22%) | |
| Other | 595 (2%) | |
| Intestinal obstruction on admission | 1,526 (4%) | |
| Intestinal perforation on admission | 584 (2%) |