[The cost of the therapeutic education program "Eat better, move more through nutrition education" in patients with breast cancer]

Abstract

Introduction: Since the life expectancy of women with breast cancer has increased, tertiary prevention, through the Therapeutic Patient Education (TPE), is now a part of patient support. The main objective of this pilot study is to evaluate the cost of a nutrition and physical activity TPE program intended to help women with breast cancer in the management of their weight.

Methods: This study is a description of costs, based on the micro-costing method, of the first two years of the program, conducted on an outpatient basis, at the Cancer Center Leon Berard, Lyon, France, with the involvement of a dietician and a physical activity trainer. Only the direct costs were taken into account, from the hospital's perspective, in Euro 2016. Sensitivity analyses were also conducted.

Results: Sixty-five patients were included in the study in 2014/2015. Their mean age was 52 years, the majority of them were in sick leave (65 %). In most cases, they had undergone surgery (95 %) and chemotherapy (71 %). The average cost per patient of the program was 541.04€ (SD 88.44€; 95 % IC [520.06-562.03]) excluding overhead costs, i.e. 687.13€ overhead costs included. The unit cost of the dietician was the most sensitive parameters.

Conclusion: This cost study, an accurate estimate of the production costs, allows to inform the decision-maker in term of pricing of such a program and to make the necessary adjustments in order to optimize the organization of this activity.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Cancer du sein; Cost; Coût; Micro-costing; Therapeutic patient education; Éducation thérapeutique du patient.