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Validity of information obtained from a method for estimating cancer costs from the perspective of patients and caregivers

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Abstract

Purpose

We describe a method we developed for estimating cancer costs from the perspective of patients and caregivers and evidence supporting validity of estimates obtained.

Methods

To increase validity, interview questions were anchored to treatments; costs were divided into their components; most questions focused on facts; and the research team combined responses into cost estimates. Evidence for validity comes from a prospective study of breast cancer costs using this method.

Results

Estimates obtained using interview responses were similar to those from independent sources. Women reported being reimbursed $205 on average for prosthesis (government reimbursement = $200); paying $15.48 per night at cancer lodge (average rate = $17.52); receiving government illness insurance for 14.6 weeks at 53% of usual salary (governmental program covers 15 weeks at 55%). A priori hypotheses about relations of costs with other characteristics were also confirmed. For example, patients’ weekly travel costs increased as a function of distance from the radiotherapy center, with patients living <25, 25–49 and ≥50 km away spending $54, $141 and $240, respectively (P < .0001); and the proportion of annual salary lost was 37% for self-employed workers compared to 18% for employees (P < .0001).

Conclusions

Evidence to date supports the validity of estimates obtained using this method.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the women and caregivers who participated in the different phases of the Family Costs of Breast Cancer Study, and the study coordinator, interviewers, data manager, statisticians and the members of the Family Costs of Breast Cancer Clinician Collaborators Group (Michèle Brie (Centre hospitalier régional de Baie-Comeau, Baie-Comeau), Judith Gaudreault (Centre hospitalier régional du Grand-Portage, Rivière-du-Loup), Marie-Hélène Girouard (Centre hospitalier régional de Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières), Jean Robert (Hôpital du Saint-Sacrement, Québec), André Robidoux (Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal, Montréal), Mathieu Roy (Centre hospitalier Pierre-Boucher, Longueuil), Renée Simon (Hôpital Charles-Lemoyne, Greenfield Park), and Éric Imbeau (Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis, Lévis)). Funding: This work was supported by competitive funding from the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance (grants #010318, #013324, #017317); the Ministère de la Santé et des Services Sociaux du Québec, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Investigator award for E. M., Ph.D. Fellowship Award for S. L.); the Fondation de l’Université Laval (Ph.D. Fellowship Award for S. L.) and the Psychosocial Oncology Research Training (PORT) program of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research—funded Strategic Training Initiative in Health Research (STIHR) (Post-doctoral Fellowship Award for S. L.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unité de Recherche en Santé des Populations (URESP), Centre de Recherche FRSQ du Centre Hospitalier Affilié Universitaire de Québec, 1050 Chemin Sainte-Foy, Québec, QC, G1S 4L8, Canada

    Sophie Lauzier, Elizabeth Maunsell & Mélanie Drolet

  2. Centre des Maladies du Sein Deschênes-Fabia, Centre Hospitalier Affilé Universitaire de Québec, 1050 Chemin Ste-Foy, Québec, QC, G1S 4L8, Canada

    Sophie Lauzier & Elizabeth Maunsell

  3. School of Nursing, McGill University, 3506 University Street, Montréal, QC, H3A 2A7, Canada

    Sophie Lauzier

  4. Département de Médecine Sociale et Préventive, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, 2180 Chemin Sainte-Foy, Québec, QC, G1K 7P4, Canada

    Elizabeth Maunsell

  5. Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Room 3105, 451 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8M5, Canada

    Douglas Coyle

  6. Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec, 190 Boulevard Crémazie Est, Montréal, QC, H2P 1E2, Canada

    Nicole Hébert-Croteau

Authors
  1. Sophie Lauzier
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  2. Elizabeth Maunsell
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  3. Mélanie Drolet
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  4. Douglas Coyle
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  5. Nicole Hébert-Croteau
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elizabeth Maunsell.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 3.

Table 3 Information collected during 1-month, 6-month and 12-month interviews to estimate direct and indirect costs
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Lauzier, S., Maunsell, E., Drolet, M. et al. Validity of information obtained from a method for estimating cancer costs from the perspective of patients and caregivers. Qual Life Res 19, 177–189 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-009-9575-y

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