ArticleBMJ open2019
End-of-life cost and its determinants for cancer patients in urban China: a population-based retrospective study.
Article in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Methodologies and characteristics of studies investigating the cost of the palliative phase of cancer: a systematic review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Palliative Care Costs in Different Ambulatory-Based Settings: A Systematic Review.PharmacoEconomics · 2024Pooled it
- Aggressive end-of-life care among over half a million patients with cancer in Shandong, China, 2017-2022.Journal of global health · 2026Article
- Economic evaluation of newly approved cetuximab biosimilars for first-line treatment of RAS/BRAF wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer in China.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Cost-effectiveness of disitamab vedotin plus toripalimab in HER2-expressing advanced urothelial carcinoma in China.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Cost-effectiveness analysis of glofitamab versus rituximab for relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients in China.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2025Article
- Urban residence, income source, and place of death among Chinese older adults.BMC palliative care · 2025Article
- Economic Evaluation of Penpulimab Plus Paclitaxel and Carboplatin Combination Therapy as First-Line Treatment for Locally Advanced or Metastatic Squamous Non-small Cell Lung Cancer in China.Clinical drug investigation · 2025Article
- Cost-effectiveness analysis of combination therapies involving novel agents for first/second-relapse patients with multiple myeloma: a Markov model approach with calibration techniques.Health economics review · 2025Article
- Costs of Palliative Care in Oncological and Non-Oncological Patients with Different Types of Ambulatory-Based Attention: Cost-Study Protocol.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Why is end-of-life inpatient cost high among cancer patients? A prospective cohort study.Cancer medicine · 2024Article
- Financial cost of end-of-life cancer care in palliative care units (PCUs) and non-PCUs in Iran: insights from low- and middle-income countries.Palliative care and social practice · 2024Article
- Value for Money of CAR-T Cell Therapy for Patients with Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma in China: Evidence from a Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.Applied health economics and health policy · 2023Article
- Observational
- High-Intensity End-of-Life Care Among Patients With GI Cancer in Puerto Rico: A Population-Based Study.JCO oncology practice · 2021Article
- Disparities in end-of-life care, expenditures, and place of death by health insurance among cancer patients in China: a population-based, retrospective study.BMC public health · 2020Article
- Prevalence and associated factors of self-treatment behaviour among different elder subgroups in rural China: a cross-sectional study.International journal for equity in health · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThis study aimed to define the end-of-life (EOL) healthcare utilisation and its cost and determinants for cancer patients and to proactively inform related strategies in mainland China.
designA population-based retrospective study. SETTING AND
participantsData from 894 cancer patients were collected in urban Yichang, China from 01 July 2015 to 30 June 2017. OUTCOME MEASURES: Emergency department (ED) visits, outpatient and inpatient hospitalisation services, intensive care unit (ICU) admission and total costs were used as the main outcomes.
resultsIn this study, 66.8% of the 894 patients were male, and the average age was 60.4 years. Among these patients, 37.6% died at home, and patients had an average of 4.86 outpatient services, 2.23 inpatient hospitalisation services and 1.44 ED visits. Additionally, 5.9% of these patients visited the ICU at least once. During the EOL periods, the costs in the last 6 months, 3 months, 1 month and 1 week were US$18 234, US$13 043, US$6349 and US$2085, respectively. The cost increased dramatically as death approached. The estimation results of generalised linear regression models showed that aggressive care substantially affected expenditure. Patients with Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance spent more than those with Urban Resident-based Basic Medical Insurance or the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme. The place of death and the survival time are also risk factors for increased EOL cost.
conclusionThe findings suggested that the EOL cost for cancer patients is associated with aggressive care, insurance type and survival time. Timing palliative care is urgently needed to address ineffective and irrational healthcare utilisation and to reduce costs. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (IORG No.: IORG0003571). All the data used in this study were de-identified.
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