Multiple geriatric conditions increase treatment burden in older patients with bladder cancer Having multiple chronic health conditions and living in a rural area were the top two factors affecting increased healthcare system contact among older patients with bladder cancer, a research team has found. The Geisinger-led team evaluated 73,395 Medicare beneficiaries age 66 and older who had been diagnosed with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer to assess their treatment burden, defined as the number of days the patients had contact with a health system in the year following diagnosis. Nearly two-thirds of the patients had multiple co-existing chronic conditions at the time of bladder cancer diagnosis, as well as other aging-related conditions, including a history of falls, cognitive impairment, depression, weight loss or urinary incontinence. The mean treatment burden for the group was 8.9 days.