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Though it would seem logical, cancer patients don't always choose therapies with the best chance forsurvival - cost and side effects are also major considerations.Little has been known about the extent to which cost and sideeffects influence a patient's treatment decision. Now, new findingsby Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers reveals that a patient'ssocioeconomic status, more than any other characteristic - such asage or disease site - is predictive of whether he or she will favorhigh efficacy, low cost or low toxicity when choosing a treatment.Yu-Ning Wong, M.D., Fox Chase medical oncologist and lead author onthe study, will present her findings at the 2012 American Societyof Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting on Tuesday, June 5. "I'm really interested in how patients make healthcare decisionsregarding cost," says Wong. "We found that patients' socioeconomicstatuses can tell us a lot about what's important to them whenconsidering treatment options." The researchers presented a heterogeneous group of 400 patientswith hypothetical scenarios and asked them to choose between twotreatments of varying levels of efficacy, toxicity and cost. Thescenarios covered both highly effective and moderately effectiveadjuvant therapies as well as palliative therapies. In all three of the categories, patients who had an income over$60,000 were more likely to choose the most effective therapy,while those with an income under $60,000 were more likely to choosethe most affordable therapy, regardless of whether the alternativetreatment offered improved survival or lower toxicity. Conversely,patients with higher income were more likely to choose treatmentsthat offered higher survival even if the alternatives were lessexpensive or more toxic. Education and employment status alsoaffected treatment choice. "It is possible that patients of higher socioeconomic status weremore likely to have greater resources to focus on survival andtolerate more side effects, such as the ability to miss work. Onthe other hand patients of lower socioeconomic status are likelymuch more cost sensitive," Wong explained. The study's findings have concerning implications for disparitiesin cancer care. Health plans with higher deductibles and co-paysmay exacerbate disparities because patients of lower socioeconomicstatus and those with greater cost concerns may be more likely toavoid costly treatment. "Policy makers should be aware of patients' sensitivity to cost asthis may influence their decision to proceed with high-value care,"Wong says. "Clinicians need to become more comfortable with the fact that costaffects patients' decisions," Wong adds. "As greater focus isplaced on 'patient-centered' care and 'preference-sensitive'decisions, patient sensitivity to costs should be integrated intodecision making." Although the study found socioeconomic status to be predictive ofpatients' preferences about efficacy, toxicity and cost for bothadjuvant and palliative treatments, Wong reinforced that thescenarios were hypothetical However, although these werehypothetical and did not require patients to spend their own money,those who reported cost concerns were less likely to choose themore expensive treatment. This suggests that patients answeredthese questions consistent with their true preferences. In addition, preferences may change. "We don't know if patients'preferences will change as they go through their diseasetrajectory," she says. Additional References Citations. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Led Flashing Toys Manufacturer , Aluminium Led Torch Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Keychain Laser Pointers.
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