Abstract
Background: Patient navigation (PN) programs have been shown to increase patient satisfaction and quality of life among patients with lung cancer and to decrease time to treatment. However, the general cost-effectiveness of such programs in the context of lung cancer remains unknown. Hence, the aim of the present systematic review was to analyze the scientific literature and quantitatively assess the level of evidence on the cost-effectiveness of PN programs for patients diagnosed with lung cancer. Methods: A systematic literature search was carried out in PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, CINAHL and PsycINFO databases without time limitations. Randomized controlled trials written in English or German were eligible for inclusion if any results regarding the cost-effectiveness of personally delivered PN programs for patients after lung cancer diagnosis were reported. A manual search was carried out to supplement the systematic search. Additionally, the authors of ongoing or unpublished relevant research were contacted. The titles, abstracts and full texts of relevant citations were screened independently by two reviewers. Results: The initial search yielded 814 articles, including four papers identified manually. Twenty-one articles were included in the full text screening. However, no study met the inclusion criteria. Contacting the authors of ongoing or unpublished research and cross-cancer studies did not yield any studies that met the inclusion criteria. Conclusion: Since no study met the inclusion criteria, this study reveals a research gap in this area. Furthermore, no conclusive statement regarding the cost-effectiveness of patient navigation programs for patients diagnosed with lung cancer can be made. Since the implementation of new healthcare models such as PN at least partially depends on their cost-effectiveness, future attempts to evaluate PN programs for lung cancer patients should consider examining outcomes related to cost-effectiveness to overcome the identified research gap.
Highlights
Lung cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed cancer type worldwide, with 2.1 million new cases annually
A total of 810 citations were identified through database searches (PubMed n = 447, EMBASE n = 122, CENTRAL n = 72, CINAHL n = 165, PsycINFO n = 4), and an additional four articles were found manually
Eight articles did not investigate patient navigation programs[28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35]; six articles did not focus on lung cancer or did not present lung cancer-specific results[36,37,38,39,40,41]; three articles did not include an economic evaluation[8,24,42]; three articles were study protocols[43,44,45]; and one article focused on promoting lung cancer screening prior to the diagnosis.[22]
Summary
Lung cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed cancer type worldwide, with 2.1 million new cases annually It accounts for an estimated 1.8 million deaths per year and is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in men and the second most common cause in women.[1] Steady progress in the detection, treatment and prevention of lung cancer has led to increased survival as well as decreased incidence.[2] more than 50 percent of lung cancer patients die within a year after diagnosis, and the 5-year survival rate is still lower than 21 percent for men and women combined.[2,3] In addition to the poor prognosis, lung cancer patients often experience severe symptom burdens, such as fatigue, shortness of breath and pain. Conclusion: Since no study met the inclusion criteria, this study version 2 (revision)
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