Health care costs among adolescent young adults with cancer at a community-based hospital.
Authors: Taparra Kekoa , Fitzsimmons Alec , Frankki Susan M. , DeWall Andrea , Chino Fumiko , Peters Antoinette 
Published: June 2021

e18857

Background: Adolescent Young Adults (AYAs) are likely to live for decades after a cancer diagnosis and thus have the potential to accumulate high healthcare costs. Prior research has shown high costs can be associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality. However, there is limited understanding of how costs impact AYAs, especially in a community hospital. The purpose of this study is to 1) understand total community hospital healthcare costs for AYA patients with cancer, 2) identify risk factors for high costs, and 3) assess the impact of costs on survival. Methods: AYA patients (ages 15-29) treated at a community hospital were identified. Data collected included patient demographics, cancer characteristics, treatments (chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, immunotherapy, hormone therapy), support services (financial counseling, social work, survivorship), hospital admissions, miles from the hospital (great-circle distance), and all healthcare charges from one year prior to cancer diagnosis until last follow-up between 2000-2020. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify patients with costs greater than the median ($125K). Cox Proportional Hazard (CPH) regression models were used to identify factors associated with the risk of all-cause mortality. Results: A total of 388 AYA patients were identified with a median follow-up of 9 years and 97% survival. Most patients were age 30-39 years (62%), female (61%), white (95%), married (63%), non-smoker (59%), had insurance (78%), had early-stage cancer (85%), and were treated with surgery (83%). The most common cancers were melanoma (17%), breast cancer (14%), and thyroid cancer (14%). Median distance from treatment site was 23 miles. Median number of admissions was one. About a third of patients received chemotherapy (37%), radiation (28%), or hormone therapy (30%). Two-hundred thirty-three patients (60%) had complete healthcare cost data with a median total costs per patient of $123K (range, $73K-$215K). In adjusted analysis, patients with higher than median healthcare cost ( > $125K) had greater odds of hospital admission (odds ratio [OR] = 1.5, p < .001) and chemotherapy treatment (OR = 3.4, p = .005) as well as lower odds of living further from the hospital per one mile (OR = 0.3, p = .049) and being uninsured/unknown insurance (OR = 0.1, p = .047). In adjusted analysis, increased risk of death was associated with receiving radiation therapy (HR = 7.8, p = .02) and higher healthcare costs per $125K (HR = 3.8, p = .001). Conclusions: High costs of healthcare among AYA patients with cancer are related to chemotherapy, hospital admissions, and hospital proximity. High healthcare costs and radiation therapy may be associated with increased risk of death in the AYA population. This data may guide physician decision making for AYA patients ensuring mindfulness of high costs of care and how it relates to poor survival outcomes in community hospitals.