Online Program

Oral

There have always been limitations with most commonly used publicly available datasets for estimating cancer burden in the USA. No single data source contained comprehensive longitudinal information for large numbers of cancer survivors about multiple health care services across insurance type for both the elderly and younger populations. Furthermore, few data sources contain information about non-medical components of cancer burden, including patient and caregiver time and lost productivity. These gaps are particularly evident among cancer survivors younger than age 65, who are a critical population for accurately estimating the national burden of cancer, particularly with respect to employment patterns and health insurance. Recently, the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Cancer Society, the National Institutes of Health Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, the LIVESTRONG foundation and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality began a collaboration to improve the quality of publicly available data for estimating the burden of cancer in the USA. This collaboration produced the nationally representative Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Experiences with Cancer (EWC) supplement consisting of (1) an oversample of households with cancer survivors from the NHIS for inclusion in the MEPS, and (2) a self-administered cancer survivor questionnaire with detailed questions about cancer burden, including access to healthcare, employment patterns in survivors and caregivers, lost productivity, financial issues, and the psychosocial impacts on survivors and their families. The timing of the MEPS EWC supplement coincides with a recent change in the way cancer survivors are identified in the MEPS. All adults in each family with a history of cancer are now included and the new question about cancer diagnosis is asked of all MEPS respondents, and not just the sampled adult in each family. In the HSR Update Session, five abstracts will demonstrate the research potential of this effort. These abstracts examine financial burden, out-of-pocket costs, employment, insurance, and psychological response to cancer. Opportunities for researchers to utilize these data to address key questions in cancer survivorship will be highlighted.

Session Objectives: Describe impacts among cancer survivor with respect to financial burden, out-of-pocket costs, employment, health insurance, and psychological response

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)