Healthcare Costs for Women with Metastatic Breast Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy
Author Information
Author(s): Montserrat Vera-Llonch, Derek Weycker, Andrew Glass, Sue Gao, Rohit Borker, Angie Qin, Gerry Oster
Primary Institution: Policy Analysis Inc (PAI)
Hypothesis
What are the healthcare costs associated with treating women with metastatic breast cancer receiving chemotherapy?
Conclusion
Healthcare costs are substantial among women with metastatic breast cancer receiving chemotherapy, particularly in outpatient settings.
Supporting Evidence
- The average healthcare cost per patient was $128,556 over a mean follow-up of 532 days.
- Outpatient services accounted for 29% of total healthcare costs.
- Patients averaged 1.7 hospital admissions and 10.7 inpatient days during the study.
Takeaway
This study shows that women with advanced breast cancer who get chemotherapy spend a lot of money on healthcare, especially for outpatient services.
Methodology
The study used a large private health insurance claims database to analyze healthcare utilization and costs for women with metastatic breast cancer receiving chemotherapy.
Potential Biases
Potential bias due to reliance on claims data for identifying patients and their treatment status.
Limitations
The study relied on healthcare claims data, which may not accurately capture all instances of chemotherapy administration and HER-2 status.
Participant Demographics
The study population consisted of 1444 women, mean age 59.1 years, with a majority over 55 years old.
Statistical Information
Confidence Interval
$118,409, $137,644
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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