Abstract A69: Racial disparity in breast cancer hospital treatment costs: Examining the effect of depression

Objective: The effect of depression on hospital costs for breast cancer (BC) patients by race remains unknown. This presentation examines two issues by race: (i) hospitalized prevalence of BC and depression among discharged patients, and (ii) racial variation regarding the effect of depression on hospital costs of BC patients.

Methods: For BC, available 2008 Tennessee Hospital Discharge Data System (HDDS) was examined. The BC sample (n=2,522) was mostly white (86%) with an average age of 63 years. We computed age-adjusted BC rates per CDC methodology, and determined racial disparity. We compared the hospital costs for BC patients with depression (BC+D) vs. without depression (BCND).

Results: Age-adjusted BC rates (per 100K) were higher among white than black patients (43.3 vs. 9.2, p<.001). Further, 25% of BC patients were depressed (depression was higher among white than black patients [26% vs. 14%, p<.01]). Hospital costs for BC were 30% higher compared to non-BC patients. Further, the cost for depressed patients (BC+D) was 56% higher compared to nondepressed (BCND) patients ($64,439 vs. $41,344). Importantly, the higher costs for depressed patients (BC+D) were similarly higher among both black and white female patients compared to their nondepressed (BCND) peers.

Conclusion: BC prevalence rate is higher among white females compared to black females. Depression increases hospital costs for both white and black patients. Since depression increased cost for both racial groups of patients, considerable cost savings might be attained by screening and treating depression among BC patients before their hospitalization.

Citation Format: Baqar Husaini, Oscar Miller, Jessica Jones, Robert Levine. Racial disparity in breast cancer hospital treatment costs: Examining the effect of depression [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Tenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2017 Sep 25-28; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2018;27(7 Suppl):Abstract nr A69.