Impact of neutropenic complications on short-term disability in patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy

Abstract

Objectives: The study examined the impact of chemotherapy-induced neutropenic complications (CINC), defined as neutropenia with fever or infection, on short-term disability (STD) among cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

Methods: The key outcome metrics were average monthly STD days and associated indirect costs. Patients with and without CINC were propensity score (PS) matched. Multivariate regressions were conducted on PS-matched cohorts to estimate the marginal impact of CINC.

Results: A total of 280 patients with CINC were PS-matched to 280 patients without CINC. Compared with matched patients, patients with CINC on average experienced 0.9 more STD day (3.2 vs. 2.3, p=0.046) and $155 more in indirect costs ($549 vs. 394, p=0.050) per month. After multivariate adjustment, patients with CINC experienced 1.0 more STD day (p=0.029), and incurred $200 more in indirect cost (p=0.016) per month.

Conclusions: Patients with CINC experience significantly greater STD leave than patients with no neutropenic complications from cancer chemotherapy. The overall study sample only included patients from large self-insured employers in the US and may not reflect the work loss experience of all employed patients in the US or other countries. Indirect costs associated with absenteeism and presenteeism were not measured.