Estimation of Breast Cancer Incident Cases and Medical Care Costs Attributable to Alcohol Consumption Among Insured Women Aged <45 Years in the U.S.

introductionThis study estimated the percentage of breast cancer cases, total number of incident cases, and total annual medical care costs attributable to alcohol consumption among insured younger women (aged 18-44 years) by type of insurance and stage at diagnosis.

methodsThe study used the 2012-2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, cancer incidence data from two national registry programs, and published relative risk measures to estimate the: (1) alcohol-attributable fraction of breast cancer cases among younger women by insurance type; (2) total number of breast cancer incident cases attributable to alcohol consumption by stage at diagnosis and insurance type among younger women; and (3) total annual medical care costs of treating breast cancer incident cases attributable to alcohol consumption among younger women. Analyses were conducted in 2016; costs were expressed in 2014 U.S. dollars.

resultsAmong younger women enrolled in Medicaid, private insurance, and both groups, 8.7% (95% CI=7.4%, 10.0%), 13.8% (95% CI=13.3%, 14.4%), and 12.3% (95% CI=11.4%, 13.1%) of all breast cancer cases, respectively, were attributable to alcohol consumption. Localized stage was the largest proportion of estimated attributable incident cases. The estimated total number of breast cancer incident alcohol-attributable cases was 1,636 (95% CI=1,570, 1,703) and accounted for estimated total annual medical care costs of $148.4 million (95% CI=$140.6 million, $156.1 million).

conclusionsAlcohol-attributable breast cancer has estimated medical care costs of nearly $150 million per year. The current findings could be used to support evidence-based interventions to reduce alcohol consumption in younger women.