Demographic characteristics and cost of treatment among oncology patients in a publicly funded system, the Ontario Trillium Drug Program: a retrospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The aim of this study was to characterize the demographic characteristics and investigate the cost of a publicly funded system, the Ontario Trillium Drug Program (TDP), for an oncology patient population.

Methods

We ascertained all TDP claims between April 1997 and December 2016 from the Ontario Drug Benefit database to assess use and cost. Each drug was classified as a cancer treatment drug, cancer supportive therapy drug or noncancer drug. We also identified a cohort of patients with cancer with least 1 TDP claim, for whom we examined demographic and claims-related characteristics.

Results

Over the study period, 50 975 293 TDP claims totalling $4.8 billion were made. Although the proportion of cancer claims among all TDP claims remained constant between 1

SUBMITTER: Cheng SY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6703988 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul-Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature