Orthopaedic-related complications, financial toxicity, and psychosocial burden in hospitalized cancer patients: A three-year retrospective analysis

Vollständiger Abstract

Worum geht es in dieser Arbeit?

Hospitalized cancer patients with orthopaedic-related complications experience multidimensional burdens encompassing clinical, financial, and psychosocial domains. This retrospective observational study evaluated 184 patients admitted to The Second People’s Hospital of Yuhang District, Hangzhou, from 2023 to 2025. Patients were classified as orthopaedic-related, including traumatic fractures, primary bone tumours, secondary or metastatic bone lesions, and post-surgical interventions, or non-orthopaedic. Data on skeletal diagnosis type, hospital length of stay, total cost, nursing expenses, and primary treatment outcomes were extracted from electronic medical records. Descriptive statistics characterized patient profiles, while one-way analysis of variance and Chi-square tests assessed differences in hospital utilisation and primary treatment outcomes across groups. Orthopaedic-related patients represented 63.6% of the cohort, with secondary or metastatic bone lesions as the most frequent diagnosis. Compared with non-orthopaedic patients, those with orthopaedic involvement had longer hospitalisation, higher total and nursing costs, and a greater proportion of terminal or ongoing outcomes. Variation in primary treatment outcomes across skeletal diagnosis types suggested differential clinical trajectories and inferred psychosocial strain. These findings underscore the compounded impact of skeletal complications on healthcare resource utilisation and patient well-being. The study highlights the value of integrating psychosocial support, early mobility interventions, and pain management into routine care, and demonstrates the utility of primary treatment outcomes as a pragmatic proxy for psychological burden in retrospective studies.