BCN HEALTH publishes a study assessing the incidence and medical costs of female breast cancer in Spain

BCN HEALTH has published the study 'Hospital Incidence and Medical Costs of Female Breast Cancer in Spain: A Retrospective Multicenter Study' in the journal 'Current Cancer Therapy Reviews', an international journal that publishes original papers and peer-reviewed articles on the latest advances in clinical oncology, cancer therapy and pharmacology.  

BCN HEALTH conducted a retrospective study based on records of inpatient and outpatient visits of women diagnosed with breast cancer in Spanish hospitals between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2018. The aim of this study was to assess the use of healthcare resources associated with female breast cancer in Spain, analyse trends in hospitalisation and mortality rates, and related direct medical costs.

During the study period, 353,080 admission records were reviewed, mainly hospital admissions, corresponding to 299,585 individual patients. The median age of patients was 59 years, 12.7% of admissions had metastatic tumours and 15.7% had unspecified secondary tumours. The mean in-hospital death rate was 3.0% for patients without metastatic disease and 10.5% for patients with metastatic disease. The total age-adjusted hospitalization rate increased between 2005 and 2011 and decreased after 2012.

The mean direct medical costs were €3824 per outpatient visit, €3995 per hospital admission up to 3 days and €5001 per hospital admission for 3 days. Admission costs were increased in patients with metastatic disease and those who died during hospitalisation. This study supports previous findings regarding the relative increase in breast cancer incidence that could be attributed to the intensive screening and the reduction in the death rate. Mean direct medical cost in this study varied greatly with the length of stay, presence of metastatic tumours and disease fatality.

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