ORAL CAVITY AND PHARYNGEAL CANCER AMONG DEPARTMENT-OF-VETERANS-AFFAIRS HOSPITAL DISCHARGES

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to determine the number of oral cavity and pharyngeal cancers among hospital discharges at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers in one 12-month period. Methods: A SAS file was created from the patient treatment file (PTF) with all discharges during fiscal 1990 having ICD-9-CM codes for oral cavity and pharyngeal cancer. Up to 10 discharge diagnoses from the most recent discharge summary were included in the data set ICD-9-CM codes for alcohol dependence syndrome, drug dependence, and nondependent abuse of drugs also were included. ICD-9-CM codes for salivary and nasopharyngeal cancers were excluded. Results: There were 3,733 unique individuals discharged with a diagnosis of oral cavity and pharyngeal cancer. The majority of cases (62%) were found in the oral cavity. The age distribution of oral cavity and pharyngeal cancer did not parallel the age distribution of veterans discharged during this year. Race and ethnicity of those discharged with the disease does not differ from that of all VA hospital discharges for 1990. Conclusions: VA data provide descriptive statistics of oral cavity and pharyngeal cancer among VA hospital discharges. VA data sets such as the PTF may offer the opportunity to examine hospital management issues, length of stay, and co-morbid diagnoses associated with oral cavity and pharyngeal cancer.