Influenza in hospitalized cancer patients: A propensity score matching analysis.
170 Background: Cancer patients are vulnerable to influenza viruses and are at great risk of developing related complications. However, few studies have assessed the impact of influenza infection among hospitalized cancer patients in the United States. Methods: We identified cancer-related hospitalizations from National Inpatient Sample between 2012 and 2014. A 1:1 propensity score matching analysis was conducted to compare the clinical outcomes between hospitalized cancer patients with and without influenza. Results: We identified 13,186,849 cancer-related hospitalizations, and 47,850 of them (0.36%) had a concomitant diagnosis of influenza. After propensity score matching, cancer patients with influenza had a higher mortality (5.4% vs. 4.2%; odds ratio [OR]: 1.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.13 to 1.49; P < 0.001), longer length of stay (6.3 vs. 5.6 days; P < 0.001) but lower costs (14605.9 vs. 14625.5 dollars; P < 0.001) in hospital than those without influenza. In addition, patients with influenza had a higher incidence of pneumonia (18.4% vs. 13.2%; OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.37 to 1.62; P < 0.001), neutropenia (7.1% vs. 3.4%; OR, 2.18; 95% CI, 1.91 to 2.50; P < 0.001), sepsis (19.5% vs. 9.3%; OR, 2.36; 95% CI, 2.16 to 2.58; P < 0.001), dehydration (14.8% vs. 8.8%; OR, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.65 to 1.97; P < 0.001), and acute kidney injury (19.9% vs. 17.6%; OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.08 to 1.25; P < 0.001) than those without influenza. Conclusions: Influenza is associated with worse clinical outcomes among hospitalized cancer patients. Influenza vaccination is recommended in this population.