A Retrospective Audit of Male Prisoners Referred to Cancer Services at Prince of Wales Hospital.
Kim Tien Chah1, Ho Wai Siu2, Nadiya Brell1,2, Melvin Chin1,2
Prince of Wales Clinical School, UNSW1, Cancer and Haematology Services, Prince of Wales Hospital (POWH)2
Aim
The health profile of prisoners is described as poorer than that of the general population. The health outcomes of prisoners with cancer are largely unknown. The POWH is the only NSW tertiary hospital with a secure inpatient unit. An audit of patients referred by NSW Justice Health to POWH will provide a large representative sample for studying health outcomes of prisoners.
Methods
Approval was granted by the SESLHD and AH&MRC human research ethics committees. This retrospective study reviewed all patients referred by NSW Justice Health to Cancer Services, POWH between January 2009 and December 2018. Data was collected from MOSAIQ® and Cerner Powerchart® electronic health record systems.
Results
303 patients were referred, 283 patients were seen at POWH. 4 patients were female. The age range was 19 to 86 (median 54, mean 53.5 years). 19 patients were aboriginal, 232 patients were not aboriginal, and 35 patients had aboriginal status unknown. The cancer diagnostic groups included non-melanomatous skin cancer (25%), non-malignant haematological disease (3.3%), urogenital (18%), haematological malignancy (11%), upper gastrointestinal (9.7%), colorectal (9%), lung (9%), head and neck (6%), melanoma (6%), sarcoma (0.7%), breast (0.7%), brain (glioma) (0.3%) and malignancy of non-specific site (1%). The 6-month landmark survival was 76.1% alive, 6% dead and 17.9% unknown. The 12-month survival was 60.1% alive, 11% dead, and 28.9% unknown. Timeliness of treatment, co-morbidities and social history will be included in the final report.
Conclusions
This single arm audit will form the basis for further studies into the health of prisoners with cancer.