Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Mar;33(2):85-91.
doi: 10.1016/j.nrl.2016.05.003. Epub 2016 Jul 20.

Indirect costs associated with glioblastoma: Experience at one hospital

[Article in English, Spanish]
J Undabeitia  1 , S Torres-Bayona  2 , N Samprón  2 , M Arrázola  3 , A Bollar  2 , M Armendariz  2 , P Torres  2 , I Ruiz  4 , M C Caballero  4 , L Egaña  5 , A Querejeta  6 , J Villanua  7 , E Pardo  8 , I Etxegoien  8 , G Liceaga  9 , M Urtasun  10 , M Michan  11 , J I Emparanza  12 , P Aldaz  13 , A Matheu  13 , E Úrculo  3
Affiliations
Free article

Indirect costs associated with glioblastoma: Experience at one hospital

[Article in English, Spanish]
J Undabeitia et al. Neurologia (Engl Ed). 2018 Mar.
Free article

Abstract

Introduction: Glioblastoma is the most common primary brain tumour. Despite advances in treatment, its prognosis remains dismal, with a mean survival time of about 14 months. Many articles have addressed direct costs, those associated with the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Indirect costs, those associated with loss of productivity due to the disease, have seldom been described.

Material and method: We conducted a retrospective study in patients diagnosed with glioblastoma at Hospital Universitario Donostia between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2013. We collected demographics, data regarding the treatment received, and survival times. We calculated the indirect costs with the human capital approach, adjusting the mean salaries of comparable individuals by sex and age and obtaining mortality data for the general population from the Spanish National Statistics Institute. Past salaries were updated to 2015 euros according to the annual inflation rate and we applied a discount of 3.5% compounded yearly to future salaries.

Results: We reviewed the records of 99 patients: 46 women (mean age 63.53) and 53 men (mean age 59.94); 29 patients underwent a biopsy and the remaining 70 underwent excisional surgery. Mean survival was 18.092 months for the whole series. The total indirect cost for the series was €11 080 762 (2015). Mean indirect cost per patient was €111 926 (2015).

Discussion: Although glioblastoma is a relatively uncommon type of tumour, accounting for only 4% of all cancers, its poor prognosis and potential sequelae generate disproportionately large morbidity and mortality rates which translate to high indirect costs. Clinicians should be aware of the societal impact of glioblastoma and indirect costs should be taken into account when cost effectiveness studies are performed to better illustrate the overall consequences of this disease.

Keywords: Chemotherapy; Costes; Costs; Glioblastoma; Prognosis; Pronóstico; Quimioterapia; Radioterapia; Radiotherapy; Supervivencia; Survival.

PubMed Disclaimer