Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, Section of Hematology and Oncology, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire.
Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, Section of Hematology and Oncology, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire.
Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2020 Sep;26(9):e227-e231. doi: 10.1016/j.bbmt.2020.06.015. Epub 2020 Jun 24.
The emotional and physical toll on caregivers of cancer patients is well documented, but research evaluating the financial burdens and time commitments of caregivers is limited. We suspected that the rural location of our cancer center would intensify these burdens for caregivers. We conducted a prospective trial to assess the out-of-pocket expenses and time commitment of caregivers of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients within the first 4 weeks after discharge from the hospital from a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center. These results show that caregivers of autologous recipients paid out-of-pocket expenses of $196 over 4 weeks. If lost wages were included, the expenses increased to $736 during this period. Caregivers of allogeneic recipients had out-of-pocket expenses of $110 in 4 weeks, or a total of $610 when lost wages were included. In the month after discharge from the hospital, caregivers traveled a median distance of 450 miles or 560 miles, depending on whether the patient received an autologous transplant or an allogeneic transplant, respectively. These results demonstrate a compelling need to address caregiver support, given the significant financial out-of-pocket expenses and time commitment.
癌症患者的护理人员在情感和身体上都承受着巨大的压力，这一点已被充分记录下来，但评估护理人员经济负担和时间投入的研究却很有限。我们怀疑我们癌症中心的农村位置会加重护理人员的这些负担。我们进行了一项前瞻性试验，以评估来自国立癌症研究所（NCI）指定的综合性癌症中心的造血干细胞移植受者出院后 4 周内护理人员的自付费用和时间投入。这些结果表明，自体受体的护理人员在 4 周内自付费用为 196 美元。如果包括工资损失，在此期间费用增加到 736 美元。同种异体受体的护理人员在 4 周内自付费用为 110 美元，如果包括工资损失，则总共为 610 美元。在出院后的一个月内，护理人员的平均行驶里程为 450 英里或 560 英里，具体取决于患者接受的是自体移植还是同种异体移植。这些结果表明，鉴于巨大的经济自付费用和时间投入，迫切需要解决护理人员的支持问题。
