About One-Third With Cancer Have Had Previous Major Adverse Financial Event
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Feb. 8, 2024 -- About one-third of patients newly diagnosed with cancer reported having a major adverse financial event (AFE) before diagnosis, and those with previous AFEs are more likely to be diagnosed with later-stage cancer, according to a study published online Feb. 6 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Joan L. Warren, Ph.D., from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues identified patients aged 20 to 69 years diagnosed with cancer during 2014 to 2015 from the Seattle, Louisiana, and Georgia Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results population-based cancer registries. The association of AFEs with later-stage cancer diagnoses (stages III/IV) was examined in sex-specific analyses.
The researchers identified 101,649 patients with cancer, of whom 36.2 percent had a major AFE reported before diagnosis. The mean and median AFE closest to diagnosis was 93 and 77 months, respectively. Non-Hispanic Black, unmarried, and low-income patients most often had AFEs. Compared with those with no AFE, individuals with previous AFEs were more likely to be diagnosed with later-stage cancer (odds ratios, 1.09 and 1.18 for men and women, respectively) after adjustment for age, race, marital status, income, registry, and cancer type. There was no variation seen in the associations between AFEs prediagnosis and later-stage disease by AFE timing.
"Our findings raise substantial concerns for the outcomes for people with an AFE before cancer diagnosis who are among the most vulnerable of all patients with cancer," the authors write.
One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted February 2024
Read this next
High Level of Approval Observed for Polygenic Embryo Screening
FRIDAY, May 17, 2024 -- There is a high level of approval for use of polygenic embryo screening, according to a study published online May 14 in JAMA Network Open. Rémy A...
AI Chatbots Can Generate Quality, Empathetic, Readable Responses
FRIDAY, May 17, 2024 -- For patient questions about cancer, artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots can generate quality, empathetic, and readable responses, according to a study...
Slight Decline Seen in U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths
THURSDAY, May 16, 2024 -- New 2023 provisional data from the National Center for Health Statistics show the first decline in deaths from drug overdose in the United States since...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.