Costs of quality-of-life research in Southwest Oncology Group trials.

Quality-of-life (QOL) research in Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) trials has achieved increasing support over the past 5 years. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the cost of performing QOL research in SWOG trials. During the month of January 1995, we tracked staff time expended for QOL tasks at the SWOG's Operations Office and Statistical Center. Of interest was a description of average costs per patient enrolled in existing SWOG trials (both open and closed), including protocol development, ongoing data monitoring, and QOL data analysis. The findings emphasize the personnel-intensive nature of this research and highlight the role of "start-up" costs, especially in terms of programmer time. It is estimated that average monthly direct costs associated with implementing a QOL study and monitoring and analyzing QOL data over the life cycles of current and closed SWOG QOL protocols are $7304; a $443 per QOL patient total cost figure is also presented. Costs associated with initiating QOL research in cooperative groups are substantial (4-5-year start-up investment) but are expected to decline after systems for monitoring, retrieving, and analyzing QOL data are in place. Funding issues are addressed.