Advanced age, stage at diagnosis, comorbidities predict greater costs in most care phases
FRIDAY, May 6, 2016 (HealthDay News) — The costs of care for cervical cancer vary by phase of care, and aggregate costs are substantial, according to a study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Ning Liu, from the University of Toronto, and colleagues used individual patient-level data to estimate the cost of managing cervical cancer in Ontario (presented in 2012 Canadian dollars). The cost-of-illness technique was used to estimate the incremental costs during pre-diagnosis, initial care, continuing care, and terminal care phases. All patients diagnosed with cervical cancer from 2005 to 2009 in Ontario were propensity-score matched to five non-cancer controls. Cases and non-cancer controls were followed to death or through March 2013.
The researchers found that the total incremental costs for managing cervical cancer were $362, $15,722, $3,924 per year, and $52,539 in the pre-diagnosis, initial, continuing, and terminal phases, respectively. In the initial, continuing, and terminal phases, inpatient care accounted for 34, 28, and 52 percent of total health care costs, respectively. Physician services ranked first in the continuing phase and second in the initial and terminal phases, accounting for 30, 26, and 13 percent, respectively. In most care phases, advanced age, advanced cancer stage at diagnosis, and comorbidities significantly predicted greater costs.
“These estimates can serve as baseline data in economic analyses that aim to evaluate interventions for managing cervical cancer,” the authors write.
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