A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE DIRECT COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MANAGEMENT OF MUCOSITIS

Abstract

Objective To evaluate and report the direct economic outcomes associated with the management of mucositis across several cancer treatments through a systematic review. Study Design A systematic search using the databases Scopus, MEDLINE/PubMed, and Embase to identify articles that provided data on costs associated with mucositis in cancer patients following antineoplastic therapies. Results 37 studies were included. The costs attributable to mucositis ranged from 1,124.47 to 29,9214.14 US dollars (USD) per patient in the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation setting; from 51.23 to 33,560.58 USD per patient in the radiotherapy/ chemoradiotherapy/radiotherapy plus molecular targeted therapy setting; from 4.18 to 31,963.64 USD per patient in the chemotherapy setting; from 565.85 to 20,279.12 USD per patient when cancer treatment was not specified; from 12.42 to 5,670.46 USD per patient for the multimodal therapy setting; and from 45.78 to 3,484.91 USD per patient in the molecular targeted therapy setting. Conclusion Mucositis is associated with increased resource use, consultations, hospitalizations and extended hospitalizations, leading to a substantial incremental cost that exacerbates the economic burden on the patient, health plan, and health system across several cancer treatments and diagnosis. More studies with a prospective evaluation of the economic costs associated with mucositis management are needed. To evaluate and report the direct economic outcomes associated with the management of mucositis across several cancer treatments through a systematic review. A systematic search using the databases Scopus, MEDLINE/PubMed, and Embase to identify articles that provided data on costs associated with mucositis in cancer patients following antineoplastic therapies. 37 studies were included. The costs attributable to mucositis ranged from 1,124.47 to 29,9214.14 US dollars (USD) per patient in the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation setting; from 51.23 to 33,560.58 USD per patient in the radiotherapy/ chemoradiotherapy/radiotherapy plus molecular targeted therapy setting; from 4.18 to 31,963.64 USD per patient in the chemotherapy setting; from 565.85 to 20,279.12 USD per patient when cancer treatment was not specified; from 12.42 to 5,670.46 USD per patient for the multimodal therapy setting; and from 45.78 to 3,484.91 USD per patient in the molecular targeted therapy setting. Mucositis is associated with increased resource use, consultations, hospitalizations and extended hospitalizations, leading to a substantial incremental cost that exacerbates the economic burden on the patient, health plan, and health system across several cancer treatments and diagnosis. More studies with a prospective evaluation of the economic costs associated with mucositis management are needed.