Healthcare costs in postmenopausal women with hormone-positive metastatic breast cancer

Figures & data

Table 1.  Hormonal agents.

Generic name	HCPCS procedure code
Aromateae inhibitors
Anastrozole	S0170
Exemastate	S0156
Letrozole
Selective estrogen receptor modulator
Raloxifine hydrochloride
Tamoxifen citrate	S0187
Toremifine citrate
Selective estrogen receptor down-regulator
Fulvestrant	J9395

Table 2.  Characteristics of study population.

Variable	Mean or n	SD or %
Number of subjects	1,266
Age (mean and SD)	59.05	2.57
Geographic region (n and %)
Northeast	709	56.00%
South	168	13.27%
Midwest	134	10.58%
West	46	3.63%
Other	209	16.51%
Insurance
Health maintenance organization	405	31.96%
Independent	105	8.29%
Point-of-service	151	11.93%
Preferred provider organization	601	47.47%
Other	4	0.32%
Charlson Comorbidity Index (mean and SD)	2.10	0.95
Chemotherapy post-MBCDT (n and %)	398	31.44%
Continuous enrollment post-index date (n and %)	–
≥6 months	1,145	90.44%
≥12 months	935	73.85%
≥18 months	720	56.87%
Continuous enrollment pre-chemotherapy date (n and %)
≥6 months	991	78.27%
≥12 months	752	59.39%
≥18 months	548	43.29%
Continuous enrollment post-chemotherapy date (n and %)
≥6 months	283	71.11%
≥12 months	183	45.98%
≥18 months	120	30.15%
Days pre-chemotherapy (mean, SD)	583.64	454.29
Days post-chemotherapy (mean, SD)	432.87	357.38
Total days (mean, SD)	719.72	447.60

Table 3.  Unadjusted healthcare costs per patient-year.

Variable	Pre-chemotherapy initiation n = 1,266			Post-chemotherapy initiation n = 398
	Mean	Standard deviation	Median	Mean	Standard deviation	Median
Healthcare costs per patient-year
Inpatient	$15,649	$55,793	$0	$22,310	$49,312	$0
Outpatient	$47,731	$57,182	$30,643	$57,819	$54,535	$46,398
Emergency room	$319	$1,891	$0	$348	$1,632	$0
Drug
Chemotherapy	NA*	NA	NA	$31,121	$54,395	$16,373
Other prescription drug	$5,511	$6,619	$3,706	$6,158	$7,551	$3,826
Total	$69,210	$84,273	$43,415	$117,757	$93,893	$95,562

Costs given in 2006 US dollars.

*NA, not applicable.

Table 4.  Unadjusted healthcare costs 6-month, 12-month and 18-month time periods.

Variable	Pre-chemotherapy initiation n = 1,266			Post-chemotherapy initiation n = 398
	6 months	12 months	18 months	6 months	12 months	18 months
Healthcare costs (mean, standard deviation)
Inpatient	$6,175	$7,467	$8,418	$8,278	$12,242	$14,806
	($16,114)	($18,217)	($19,765)	($20,221)	($28,598)	($33,702)
Outpatient	$25,915	$36,778	$42,717	$28,120	$43,163	$52,427
	($30,617)	($44,253)	($52,493)	($26,078)	($45,471)	($61,272)
Emergency room	$144	$207	$240	$178	$237	$289
	($830)	($976)	($1,024)	($1,075)	($1,121)	($1,172)
Drug
Chemotherapy	NA*	NA	NA	$15,309	$21,737	$26,299
				($18,853)	($29,425)	($39,262)
Other prescription drug	$2,871	$4,428	$5,485	$3,063	$4,801	$5,862
	($4,537)	($5,777)	($6,650)	($4,986)	($7,421)	($8,785)
Total	$35,106	$48,879	$56,861	$54,948	$82,182	$99,683
	($36,762)	($51,433)	($60,576)	($41,168)	($68,542)	($93,826)

Costs given in 2006 US dollars.

*NA, not applicable.

Figure 1.  Adjusted mean total health care costs during pre- and post-chemotherapy periods.