AIM OF THE STUDY: The authors analyse the effect of chemotherapy on the use of additional health-care resources and report the clinical and demographic factors associated with such use. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In women with breast cancer, eligible to receive first-line (neo)-adjuvant or palliative chemotherapy, consultations with health-care practitioners (general practitioners [GPs] and specialists) and admissions to emergency department and to hospital were prospectively recorded. Differences were studied according to these clinical and demographic variables: age, tumour stage, performance status, weight, height, body mass index, surgery type, chemotherapy type, number of courses, comorbidity, marital status, educational level, social status and occupational status. RESULTS: Among 268 patients, 124 (42.2%) required one or more non-protocol health-care encounters. 180 visits were generated (GP 23.3%, specialist 35.5%, emergency department admission 21.1%, hospital admission 8.3%, others 3.3% and more than one resource 8.3%). Of total consultations 150 (83.3%) were chemotherapy-related. The number of visits was higher in the first courses. Fever and infection were the most frequent reasons for consultation in all resources. The dependent variable: 'need for non-protocol health-care encounter in any course' was statistically associated with age (p=0.002) and marital status (p=0.021); no association was found with other variables. In multivariate analysis, age (p=0.001) and marital status (p=0.009) remained statistically significant. Younger and married patients consumed less extra health resources. CONCLUDING STATEMENT: Many patients receiving chemotherapy consume health-care resources in addition to their routine visits, usually treatment-related. Patients consult less in the later courses. Older and unmarried women in particular need extra care during chemotherapy.
AIM OF THE STUDY: The authors analyse the effect of chemotherapy on the use of additional health-care resources and report the clinical and demographic factors associated with such use. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In women with breast cancer, eligible to receive first-line (neo)-adjuvant or palliative chemotherapy, consultations with health-care practitioners (general practitioners [GPs] and specialists) and admissions to emergency department and to hospital were prospectively recorded. Differences were studied according to these clinical and demographic variables: age, tumour stage, performance status, weight, height, body mass index, surgery type, chemotherapy type, number of courses, comorbidity, marital status, educational level, social status and occupational status. RESULTS: Among 268 patients, 124 (42.2%) required one or more non-protocol health-care encounters. 180 visits were generated (GP 23.3%, specialist 35.5%, emergency department admission 21.1%, hospital admission 8.3%, others 3.3% and more than one resource 8.3%). Of total consultations 150 (83.3%) were chemotherapy-related. The number of visits was higher in the first courses. Fever and infection were the most frequent reasons for consultation in all resources. The dependent variable: 'need for non-protocol health-care encounter in any course' was statistically associated with age (p=0.002) and marital status (p=0.021); no association was found with other variables. In multivariate analysis, age (p=0.001) and marital status (p=0.009) remained statistically significant. Younger and married patients consumed less extra health resources. CONCLUDING STATEMENT: Many patients receiving chemotherapy consume health-care resources in addition to their routine visits, usually treatment-related. Patients consult less in the later courses. Older and unmarried women in particular need extra care during chemotherapy.
Authors: Hiroko Machida; Sarah E Eckhardt; Antonio V Castaneda; Erin A Blake; Huyen Q Pham; Lynda D Roman; Koji Matsuo Journal: Int J Gynecol Cancer Date: 2017-10 Impact factor: 3.437
Authors: Alexis D Leal; Holly Van Houten; Lindsey Sangaralingham; Rachel A Freedman; Ahmedin Jemal; Heather B Neuman; Tufia C Haddad; Robert W Mutter; Theresa H M Keegan; Sarah S Mougalian; Charles L Loprinzi; Cary P Gross; Nilay Shah; Kathryn J Ruddy Journal: Clin Breast Cancer Date: 2017-09-22 Impact factor: 3.225
Authors: Heidi V Russell; M Fatih Okcu; Kala Kamdar; Mona D Shah; Eugene Kim; J Michael Swint; Wenyaw Chan; Xianglin L Du; Luisa Franzini; Vivian Ho Journal: BMC Med Inform Decis Mak Date: 2014-10-01 Impact factor: 2.796
Authors: Ipshita Prakash; N Ben Neely; Samantha M Thomas; Sarah Sammons; Rachel C Blitzblau; Gayle A DiLalla; Terry Hyslop; Carolyn S Menendez; Jennifer K Plichta; Laura H Rosenberger; Oluwadamilola M Fayanju; E Shelley Hwang; Rachel A Greenup Journal: Cancer Med Date: 2022-01-05 Impact factor: 4.711