A new study suggests that financial stress, rooted in filing for bankruptcy, may be a risk factor for increased mortality after a cancer diagnosis.
Patients with cancer are more likely than the general population to file for bankruptcy, due in large part to health care costs, missed work time, and lasting side effects associated with treatment. Although the financial burden of cancer has been fairly well documented, there has been little research on how it can affect an individual’s quality of life and life expectancy.
In a study published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, a team of collaborators led by Scott Ramsey, MD, PhD (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA), aimed to determine the effect of financial stress on health outcomes by comparing patients with cancer who filed for bankruptcy with those who did not. A total of 3841 patients, with a mean age of 53 years and a median income of $49,000, were included in the study. Patients who were younger than 21 years of age, diagnosed with cancer at death, or had localized tumors were excluded from analysis.
Results of the study demonstrated a consistent, positive association between bankruptcy and earlier mortality. Mortality rates varied widely among different cancer types. Patients diagnosed with breast, lung, colorectal, or prostate cancer who filed for bankruptcy had significantly higher mortality rates than those with the same type of cancer who did not. In particular, patients with prostate or colorectal cancer who declared bankruptcy had mortality rates 2 and 2.5 times higher, respectively, than patients with the same type of cancer who did not.
The findings suggest that financial burden may lead to significantly poorer outcomes for patients with cancer. Although the researchers did not investigate the factors underlying the association, they theorized that bankruptcy in patients with cancer may be tied to an inability to afford medication, operative procedures, and follow-up care. More research will be needed to better understand the processes by which financial stress influences health outcomes in patients with cancer.
