Patients With Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy in the Last 14 Days of Life

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Palliative Care
Country
Belgium
Publishing Organisation
Belgian Health System Performance Assessment (HSPA) Framework
Type of Quality Indicator
Process
IOM Quality Dimension
Safety
Domain
Care of the Patient at the End of Life

Defining Attributes

Definition

Patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy in the last 14 days of life. Chemotherapy is identified by Drug (ATC) selection: ATC category L01, minus some products that are (also) used in non-oncological settings (e.g. Ledertrexate, Celecoxib). More precisely, L01 covers systemic therapy with exclusion of hormonal therapy. L01 not only covers chemotherapy but also PKI and monoclonal Ab.

Numerator

Number of patients receiving chemotherapy in the last 14 days of life.

Denominator

Number of patients diagnosed with cancer that died within the studied time period.

Exclusions

Patients with more than one invasive tumour (until 2015) Patients without a Belgian residence Patients without national social security number Patients for whom no Intermutualistic Agency (IMA) data of the year of death were available (=3.9%) Patients with an uncertain date of diagnosis Age at diagnosis <18 years

Other restrictions: Maximum 3 years of follow-up was applied. Analyses are limited to patients who died before January 1st of the third year following the year of incidence. For example: patients diagnosed in 2006 were included in case they died in 2006, 2007 or 2008; patients diagnosed in 2007 were included in case they died in 2007, 2008 or 2009, etc. These cohorts were defined in order to assure that for every diagnosis, the same follow-up period could be taken into account. By applying this definition, a bias induced by varying length of the follow-up period could be avoided.

Use of Risk Adjustment
No
Risk Adjustments

None

Stratifications

Data Attributes

Type of Data Collection
Administrative data
Data Collection Methods

Belgian Cancer Registry (BCR) linked with Intermutualistic Agency (IMA) data. The Belgian Cancer Registry is an exhaustive national register of cancer cases. The IMA dataset includes all information as collected by the seven existing health insurance agencies in Belgium. This database covers data on reimbursed medication and reimbursement for the use of health services, collected in the framework of the compulsory Belgian health care and benefits insurance program.

Frequency of Data Collection
Continuous
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
1
Reporting Methods

Public reporting.

Reporting Frequency
Every 3-4 years
Reporting Frequency in Days
1095-1461
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
No

Source and Reference Attributes

Link to Measurement Tools
Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
Yes
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
No
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
No
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
12 March 2025