Prostate cancer--prevalence-based healthcare costs.
OBJECTIVE
To calculate the total costs of in- and outpatient healthcare for patients with prostate cancer based on an episode-of-care approach. The cost analysis includes costs incurred during the first year of diagnosis, a longitudinal 3-year analysis and the incremental cost of prostate cancer during the first year of diagnosis.


METHODS
Patients registered with prostate cancer between 1998 and 2000, according to the data files of the Southern Swedish Regional Tumour Registry, were given encrypted identifiers that could also be used in the Patient Administrative System of the Region Skåne County Council, making it possible to identify consumption of healthcare on an episode-of-care basis. Itemized costs for resources used by each individual patient were calculated from the complete accounting system of the County Council.


RESULTS
Healthcare costs for prostate cancer during the first year varied between 45 000 and 51 000 SEK per patient. The second- and third-year costs were progressively lower, with an estimated total cost of 114 000 SEK over a period of 3 years. The age-standardized incremental cost of prostate cancer corresponded to 33 000 SEK during the first year, compared to the average cost per inhabitant.


CONCLUSIONS
The episode-of-care approach, based on encrypted identifiers for the identification of the diagnoses of individual patients and their utilization of healthcare, gives a unique opportunity to estimate the healthcare costs of specific diseases. The incremental healthcare cost per patient with prostate cancer corresponded to 33 000 SEK during the first year.
Norlund
Anders
A
Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care, PO Box 5650, SE-114 86 Stockholm, Sweden. norlund@sbu.se
Alvegård
Thor
T
Lithman
Thor
T
Merlo
Juan
J
Noreen
Dennis
D
D000368:Aged; D017281:Cost of Illness; D017050:Episode of Care; D017048:Health Care Costs; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011468:Prostatectomy / Q000191:economics; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000191:economics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology