Background: Emergency Department (ED) visits are increasing in the ACT. ED visits by cancer patients are not well understood. This is the first study to describe ED use associated with newly diagnosed cancer in the ACT in a population-based cohort.
Aim: To describe ED use in ACT residents diagnosed with a primary cancer in the previous year.
Methods: ACT Cancer Registry (ACTCR) records were linked to ACT Emergency Department Information System (EDIS) records at the Centre for Health Record Linkage. The frequency and reason for ED visits by cancer type was described for people diagnosed in the previous 30 days, 180 days and 360 days, using data from the ACTCR (2007-2014) and EDIS (2006/07-2015/16).
Results: During 2007-2014, 11,759 ACT residents were diagnosed with a new cancer. Of the ACTCR linkage cohort, 5,016 (43%) people had at least one ED visit within one year after diagnosis. The majority (69%) were within 180 days of diagnosis with 19% within 30 days. The cancers most commonly associated with ED visits were bowel, breast, lung and prostate. Timing of ED visits varied by cancer type. The most common reasons for ED visits over all cancers were abdominal and pelvic pain, pain in the throat and chest, and agranulocytosis, however this varied by cancer type.
Conclusion: ED use by cancer patients in the ACT is considerable. These findings could inform efforts to detect potentially preventable ED visits and investigate alternative forms of acute care and admission to hospital for cancer patients resulting in improved care.