Financial distress among women with advanced or metastatic breast cancer in Germany: secondary analysis of prospective ePROCOM data of a two-center cohort

IF 2.6 3区医学 Q2 OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY

Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Pub Date : 2026-07-15 DOI:10.1007/s00404-026-08523-y

Joachim Graf, Harald Abele, Markus Wallwiener, Eva J. Kantelhardt, Sara Y. Brucker, Elisabeth Simoes

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引用次数: 0

Key message

In this study, half of all female patients with advanced and metastatic breast cancer reported experiencing financial difficulties. This highlights the need for gynecology and oncology specialists to also address patients’ socio-medical needs. Electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePRO) must be used to identify such areas of concern.

Abstract

Purpose

The aim was to investigate whether and to what extent female patients with advanced or metastatic breast cancer who are undergoing chemotherapy report financial difficulties due to their physical condition and/or the effects of medical treatment in relation to the German reference cohort.

Methods

A secondary data analysis was performed using data collected prospectively as part of the ePROCOM study. A total of n = 168 female patients who had answered questions regarding financial implications of the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire were included in the analysis. Unpaired t tests (Welch) and Chi-square tests as well as multiple regressions were conducted. A bilateral p value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant in all analyses (alpha = 0.05).

Results

The prevalence of financial distress was 50.0% (95%-CI 42.4%; 57.6%), defined as a response of at least 2 (“a little”) on a 4-point Likert scale. Between the reference cohort scored 4.8 and the breast cancer cohort scored 28.8, there was a significant difference of 24 ± 5.19 score points (p < 0.001; 95%-CI 18.81, 29.19) in financial burden. Overall, the regression model explained 27.7% of the total variance in financial burden through HRQoL, age, and civil status (R² = 0.277).

Conclusion

Women with advanced or metastatic breast cancer reported substantially higher financial burden than the female German reference population. Lower HRQoL, younger age, and living alone were associated with greater financial impact. These findings support routine assessment of financial distress in those patients and suggest that ePRO-based screening may help identify patients in need of early social-medical support.

Abstract Image

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德国晚期或转移性乳腺癌妇女的经济困难：双中心队列前瞻性ePROCOM数据的二次分析

关键信息：在这项研究中，一半的晚期和转移性乳腺癌女性患者报告遇到经济困难。这突出了妇科和肿瘤学专家也需要解决患者的社会医疗需求。必须使用电子患者报告结果（ePRO）来确定这些关注的领域。目的：目的是调查与德国参考队列相关的正在接受化疗的晚期或转移性乳腺癌女性患者是否以及在多大程度上由于其身体状况和/或药物治疗的影响而报告经济困难。方法：使用ePROCOM研究前瞻性收集的数据进行二次数据分析。共有n = 168名女性患者回答了EORTC QLQ-C30问卷中有关财务影响的问题，并纳入分析。采用非配对t检验（Welch）、卡方检验和多元回归分析。结果的双边p值：财务困境的患病率为50.0% (95%-CI 42.4%; 57.6%)，定义为在4点李克特量表上至少2（“一点”）的反应。参考组得分为4.8分，乳腺癌组得分为28.8分，差异有24±5.19分（p 2 = 0.277）。结论：晚期或转移性乳腺癌女性报告的经济负担明显高于德国女性参考人群。较低的HRQoL、较年轻和独居与更大的经济影响相关。这些发现支持对这些患者的经济困难进行常规评估，并表明基于epro的筛查可能有助于识别需要早期社会医疗支持的患者。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics 医学-妇产科学

CiteScore

4.70

自引率

15.40%

发文量

493

审稿时长

1 months

期刊介绍： Founded in 1870 as "Archiv für Gynaekologie", Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics has a long and outstanding tradition. Since 1922 the journal has been the Organ of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gynäkologie und Geburtshilfe. "The Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics" is circulated in over 40 countries world wide and is indexed in "PubMed/Medline" and "Science Citation Index Expanded/Journal Citation Report". The journal publishes invited and submitted reviews; peer-reviewed original articles about clinical topics and basic research as well as news and views and guidelines and position statements from all sub-specialties in gynecology and obstetrics.