Direct and indirect economic and health consequences of Lung cancer in Denmark: a national register-based study: 1998–2010

Abstract

Introduction: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide with associated morbidity and economic costs – together creating a major public health concern. Aims and objectives: A nationwide epidemiological study that evaluates direct and indirect costs of lung cancer patients in Denmark before and after initial diagnosis. Methods: Records from the Danish National Patient Registry (1998–2010), direct and indirect costs, including frequency of primary and secondary sector contacts and procedures, medication, unemployment benefits and social transfer payments were extracted from national databases. Participants: 53,749 lung cancer patients were identified and compared with 214,304 randomly selected controls matched for age, gender, geography and marital status. Results: We find direct health care cost for lung cancer patients before (2658 €) and after (15.464 €) diagnosis to be significantly higher compared with controls (before 1952€; after 3229€). For both gender lung cancer is associated with significantly higher rates of health-related costs, medical use, public transfer income, social transfer payments and significantly lower income from employment until reaching retirement age (65 years). Conclusion: For the first time lung cancer patients has been included in a longitudinal, national economic evaluation, showing significantly higher rates of health care costs in particular, compared to matched controls. Most surprisingly, these differences do not seem to progress until the year of the diagnosis, hence allowing little room for early detection.