Health service use and costs in the last 6 months of life in elderly decedents with a history of cancer: a comprehensive analysis from a health payer perspective.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There is growing interest in end-of-life care in cancer patients. We aim to characterise health service use and costs in decedents with cancer history and examine factors associated with resource use and costs at life's end.

Methods

We used routinely collected claims data to quantify health service use and associated costs in two cohorts of elderly Australians diagnosed with cancer: one cohort died from cancer (n=4271) and the other from non-cancer causes (n=3072). We used negative binomial regression to examine the factors associated with these outcomes.

Results

Those who died from cancer had significantly higher rates of hospitalisations and medicine use but lower rates of emergency department use than those who died from non-cancer causes. Overall health

SUBMITTER: Langton JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4891509 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature