Table 2.
Descriptive characteristics, metastatic non–small cell lung cancer, SEER-Medicare, 2007–2015, N = 10 655
| Variables | Monthly drug cost |
Residency |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| < $5000 N = 3528 | ≥$5000 N = 7127 | P * | Rural N = 1287 | Urban N = 9354 | P * | |
| Age, y | ||||||
| 66–75 | 2118 (60.0) | 4292 (60.2) | .19 | 876 (68.1) | 5524 (59.1) | < .001 |
| 76–85 | 1254 (35.5) | 2466 (34.6) | 384 (29.8) | 3333 (35.6) | ||
| 86 and older | 156 (4.4) | 369 (5.2) | 27 (2.1) | 497 (5.3) | ||
| Sex | ||||||
| Female | 1735 (49.2) | 3897 (54.7) | < .001 | 621 (48.3) | 5006 (53.5) | < .001 |
| Male | 1793 (50.8) | 3230 (45.3) | 666 (51.7) | 4348 (46.5) | ||
| Race/Ethnicity | ||||||
| White non-Hispanic | 2895 (82.1) | 5620 (78.9) | < .001 | 1184 (92.0) | 7321 (78.3) | < .001 |
| Black non-Hispanic | 291 (8.2) | 474 (6.7) | 47 (3.7) | 717 (7.7) | ||
| Hispanic | 195 (5.5) | 383 (5.4) | 31 (2.4) | 544 (5.8) | ||
| Other/unknown | 147 (4.2) | 650 (9.1) | 25 (1.9) | 772 (8.3) | ||
| Census tract percentage below poverty† | ||||||
| < 20% poverty | 2630 (74.9) | 5662 (79.6) | < .001 | 787 (61.3) | 7498 (80.4) | < .001 |
| .≥20% poverty | 882 (25.1) | 1452 (20.4) | 497 (38.7) | 1831 (19.6) | ||
| Rurality‡ | ||||||
| Urban | 3012 (85.5) | 6342 (89.1) | < .001 | N/A | N/A | |
| Rural | 510 (14.5) | 777 (10.9) | ||||
| Comorbidities | ||||||
| 0 | 1243 (35.2) | 2961 (41.5) | < .001 | 488 (37.9) | 3707 (39.6) | .30 |
| 1 | 1039 (29.5) | 2131 (29.9) | 406 (31.5) | 2762 (29.5) | ||
| 2 or more | 1246 (35.3) | 2035 (28.6) | 393 (30.5) | 2885 (30.8) | ||
| Treated at an NCI-designated center | ||||||
| No/unknown | 3029 (85.9) | 5452 (76.5) | < .001 | 1087 (84.5) | 7381 (78.9) | < .001 |
| Yes | 499 (14.1) | 1675 (23.5) | 200 (15.5) | 1973 (21.1) | ||
| Medical school–affiliated hospital in county | ||||||
| No | 1276 (36.2) | 2061 (28.9) | < .001 | 1064 (82.7) | 2264 (24.2) | < .001 |
| Yes | 2250 (63.8) | 5064 (71.1) | 223 (17.3) | 7086 (75.8) | ||
| High-cost drug | ||||||
| < $5000/month | N/A | N/A | 510 (39.6) | 3012 (32.2) | < .001 | |
| ≥ $5000/month | 777 (60.4) | 6342 (67.8) | ||||
| Year of diagnosis | ||||||
| 2007 | 544 (15.4) | 500 (7.0) | < .001 | 128 (9.9) | 915 (9.8) | .24 |
| 2008 | 473 (13.4) | 574 (8.1) | 140 (10.9) | 901 (9.6) | ||
| 2009 | 407 (11.5) | 701 (9.8) | 125 (9.7) | 980 (10.5) | ||
| 2010 | 354 (10.0) | 677 (9.5) | 129 (10.0) | 901 (9.6) | ||
| 2011 | 362 (10.3) | 734 (10.3) | 128 (9.9) | 967 (10.3) | ||
| 2012 | 366 (10.4) | 885 (12.4) | 176 (13.7) | 1, 075 (11.5) | ||
| 2013 | 361 (10.2) | 1020 (14.3) | 163 (12.7) | 1218 (13.0) | ||
| 2014 | 344 (9.8) | 1033 (14.5) | 149 (11.6) | 1228 (13.1) | ||
| 2015 | 317 (9.0) | 1003 (14.1) | 149 (11.6) | 1169 (12.5) | ||
| Total Medicare spending 12 months following diagnosis§ | 58 880 | 93 953 | < .001 | 67 580 | 84 394 | < .001 |
| Inpatient | 27 946 | 25 400 | < .001 | 19 812 | 27 122 | < .001 |
| Outpatient hospital | 8885 | 22 273 | <.001 | 19 188 | 17 666 | < .001 |
| Professional | 14 877 | 29 701 | < .001 | 18 966 | 25 601 | < .001 |
| Durable medical equipment | 585 | 560 | .59 | 610 | 562 | .26 |
| Prescription medications | 2 264 | 11 980 | < .001 | 5 576 | 9 212 | < .001 |
| Hospice | 2807 | 2125 | < .001 | 2157 | 2380 | .11 |
| Home health | 1516 | 1913 | < .001 | 1271 | 1851 | < .001 |
*
Two-sided P values were calculated using the chi-square test. Percentage of sample size is shown in parentheses. N/A = not applicable; NCI = National Cancer Institute; SEER = Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results.
†
Area-level poverty is defined at the census tract when available. For observations missing the census tract, area-level poverty is defined at the zip code. Twenty-eight observations were missing census tract data.
‡
Urban/rural classification is based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Urban Commuting Area Codes.
§
Medicare spending is for 12 months following the month of diagnosis.