
Past Issues
A Study of Medical Resource Expenditure in Early-stage Breast Cancer Patients with Type D Personality
Chi-Wen Tu, Chia-Ling Lei, Chun-Feng Wei, Ying-Ray Lee, King-Teh Lee
Objective: This study was to investigate the prevalence of patients with type
D personality diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, and the use of medical
expenditure between type D and non-type D personality, following the diagnosis
of breast cancer. Methods: We included patients diagnosed with stages 1 and 2
breast cancer at a single regional teaching hospital to study their medical expenses,
that of a fi ve-year full course of treatment. During October 1, 2011 and March 31,
2012, questionnaires (N = 212) were administered by hospital staff members in
interviews to collect information about patient’s demographic variables and Taiwanese
version of Type D Scale-14. Results: The prevalence of type D personality
among early-stage breast cancer patients was 37.3%. The patients with and without
type D personality were not found to have any signifi cant differences in numbers
of outpatient visits, length of hospital stay, outpatient medical expenses, and
inpatient medical expenses. Conclusion: This study results revealed that there
were no differences existed in expenditure of medical resources between type D
and non-type D early-stage breast cancer patients. We suggest that medical resource
utilization in breast cancer has become standardized under the current National
Health Insurance system.
Key Word | type D personality, cancer, oncology, medical resource expenditure |
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