Comorbidity Patterns of Older Lung Cancer Patients in Northeast China: An Association Rules Analysis Based on Electronic Medical Records

Purposes: This study aims to identify the comorbidity patterns of older men with lung cancer in China. Methods: We analyzed the electronic medical records (EMRs) of lung cancer patients over age 65 in the Jilin Province of China. The data studied were obtained from 20 hospitals of Jilin Province in 2018. In total, 1510 patients were identified. We conducted a rank–frequency analysis and social network analysis to identify the predominant comorbidities and comorbidity networks. We applied the association rules to mine the comorbidity combination with the values of confidence and lift. A heatmap was utilized to visualize the rules. Results: Our analyses discovered that (1) there were 31 additional medical conditions in older patients with lung cancer. The most frequent comorbidities were pneumonia, cerebral infarction, and hypertension. (2) The network-based analysis revealed seven subnetworks. (3) The association rules analysis provided 41 interesting rules. The results revealed that hypertension, ischemic cardiomyopathy, and pneumonia are the most frequent comorbid combinations. Heart failure may not have a strong implicating role in these comorbidity patterns. Cerebral infarction was rarely combined with other diseases. In addition, glycoprotein metabolism disorder comorbid with hyponatremia or hypokalemia increased the risk of anemia by more than eight times in older lung cancer patients. Conclusions: This study provides evidence on the comorbidity patterns of older men with lung cancer in China. Understanding the comorbidity patterns of older patients with lung cancer can assist clinicians in their diagnoses and contribute to developing healthcare policies, as well as allocating resources.