Oral Cancer Treatment Costs in Greece and the Effect of Advanced Disease
View/ Open
Author
Andreopoulos, Nikos
Katsikeris, Nikos
Zavras, Dimitrios
Cartsos, Vassiliki
Vamvakidis, Athanasios
Note: Order does not necessarily reflect citation order of authors.
Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-2-12Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Zavras, Athanasios, Nikos Andreopoulos, Nikos Katsikeris, Dimitrios Zavras, Vassiliki Cartsos, and Athanasios Vamvakidis. 2002. Oral cancer treatment costs in Greece and the effect of advanced disease. BMC Public Health 2:12.Abstract
Background: The main purpose of the study was to quantify the direct costs of oral cancer treatment to the healthcare system of Greece. Another aim was to identify factors that affect costs and potential cost reduction items. More specifically, we examined the relationship between stage of disease, modality of treatment and total direct costs. Methods: The medical records and clinic files of the Oral and Maxillofacial Clinic of the Athens General Hospital "Genimatas" were abstracted to investigate clinical treatment characteristics, including length of hospitalization, modes of treatment, stage of disease etc. Records of 95 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSSC), with at least six months of follow-up, were examined. The clinical data was then used to calculate actual direct costs, based on 2001 market values. Results: The mean total direct costs for OSSC treatment estimated at euro 8,450 or approximately US$ 7,450. Costs depended on the stage of the disease, with significant increases in stages III and IV, as compared with stages I and II (p < 0.05). Multi-modality treatment applied mainly to patients in stages III and IV was the factor that affected the cost. Disease stage was also associated with the total duration of hospitalization (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The clinical management of advanced oral cancer is strongly associated with higher costs. Although the ideal would be to prevent cancer, the combination of high-risk screening, early diagnosis and early treatment seems the most efficient way to reduce costs, and most importantly, prolong life.Other Sources
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC117788/pdf/Terms of Use
This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of-use#LAACitable link to this page
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4514594
Collections
- SPH Scholarly Articles [6362]
Contact administrator regarding this item (to report mistakes or request changes)