ABSTRACT
Objective To analyze the death cases of the oncology inpatients of the First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine (hereinafter referred to as "this hospital") during 2007-2016; To provide the basis for the prevention and treatment of cancer, prognosis improvement and rational allocation of TCM health resources. Methods The death cases of the oncology inpatients from 2007 to 2016 were analyzed by retrospective medical history method from the aspects of causes of death, hospitalization costs and survival time. Results There were 830 death cases of the oncology inpatients in the hospital during 2007-2016, with 548 males and 282 females, and the mortality rate decreased year by year. The average hospitalization costs for patients was 39 630.86 yuan, of which TCM treatment cost 6206.98 yuan (15.66%). Patients with colon cancer had the highest proportion of TCM treatment costs (20.10%), followed by lung cancer, breast cancer, and liver cancer. The top five causes of death were lung cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, and rectal cancer. The sex ratio of patients who died of lung cancer was 1.61:1. The average survival time of male patients was 446.3 days, which was far lower than the 738.3 days of female patients. The cancers with long-term survival periods were cervical cancer, breast cancer, and rectal cancer. The cancers with shorter survival periods were pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, and lung cancer. Conclusion The structure of death causes of the oncology inpatients in the hospital has a certain degree of representation. The prevention and control of lung cancer, especially male lung cancer should be strengthened; TCM health resources and prevention should be utilized rationally; the prognosis of patients with liver cancer should be improved, to improve the overall survival and quality of life of patients with breast cancer or cervical cancer, which is important for the prevention and treatment of malignant tumor.