Premium
How cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma affects quality of life, and its cost to individual patients and the U.S. healthcare system
Author(s) -
Semenov Y.R.,
Rosenberg A.R.,
Herbosa C.,
MehtaShah N.,
Musiek A.C.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1111/bjd.18648
Subject(s) - medicine , quality of life (healthcare) , embarrassment , health care , rash , dermatology life quality index , quality adjusted life year , population , disease , mycosis fungoides , gerontology , family medicine , cost effectiveness , lymphoma , dermatology , psychology , environmental health , nursing , social psychology , risk analysis (engineering) , economics , economic growth
Summary Cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) is a type of skin cancer that affects nearly 40,000 people in the United States. Unlike other skin cancers, CTCL typically looks like a rash and may cover a small or large amount of skin. Patients with CTCL often experience fear, embarrassment, itchiness, treatment side effects, and financial problems, all of which may reduce quality of life. A research team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. conducted a survey to learn how CTCL affects quality of life and to estimate its cost to individual patients and the U.S. healthcare system. Sixty‐seven CTCL patients completed a widely‐used questionnaire known as the Ontario Health Utilities Index Mark III (HUI3). Scores were used to calculate the average number of quality‐adjusted life years (QALYs) lost by patients with CTCL. A QALY is a way of measuring the burden of a disease, and one QALY equates to one year in perfect health. This number was used to estimate the social and economic burden of CTCL. The study patients were found to have significantly worse quality of life scores compared to results from the U.S. general population. Specifically, CTCL was associated with major increases in emotional suffering and physical pain, along with smaller declines in the ability to speak and walk around. CTCL was estimated to cost $73,389 in the average patient's lifetime and $2.84 billion to the U.S. healthcare system. These findings demonstrate that CTCL is an expensive disease which can significantly reduce quality of life as much as other debilitating health problems such as diabetes and kidney failure. Thus, the authors conclude that effective management of CTCL has the potential to be of great benefit to individual patients as well as the healthcare system. This summary relates to the study: Health‐related quality of life and economic implications of cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma