Hospital Resource Utilization and Treatment Cost of Skeletal-Related Events in Patients with Metastatic Breast or Prostate Cancer: Estimation for the Portuguese National Health System

• Autor(a) principal: Félix, J
• Data de Publicação: 2011
• Outros Autores: Andreozzi, V, Soares, M, Borrego, P, Gervásio, H, Moreira, A, Costa, L, Marcelo, F, Peralta, F, Furtado, I, Pina, F, Albuquerque, C, Santos, A, Passos-Coelho, JL, Portuguese Group for the Study of Bone Metastases
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.23/550
• topic: Portugal; Neoplasias da Mama; Neoplasias dos Ossos; Neoplasias da Próstata; Metástases; Recursos em Saúde; Custos Hospitalares

BACKGROUND: Skeletal-related events (SREs) occur frequently in patients with bone metastases as a result of breast (BC) and prostate (PC) cancers. They increase both morbidity and mortality and lead to extensive health-care resource utilization. METHODS: Health care resource utilization by BC/PC patients with at least one SRE during the preceding 12 months was assessed through retrospective chart review. SRE-treatment costs were estimated using the Portuguese Ministry of Health cost database and analyzed using generalized linear models. RESULTS: This study included 152 patients from nine hospitals. The mean (SD) annual SRE-treatment cost per patient was €5963 (€3646) and €5711 (€4347), for BC (n=121) and PC (n=31) patients, respectively. Mean cost per single episode ranged between €1485 (radiotherapy) and €13,203 (spinal cord compression). Early onset of bone metastasis (P = 0.03) and diagnosis of bone metastases at or after the occurrence of the first SRE (P < 0.001) were associated with higher SRE-treatment costs. CONCLUSION: These results reveal the high hospital SRE-treatment costs, highlighting the need for early diagnosis and treatment, and identify key factors determining the economic value of therapies for patients with skeletal metastases.