Impact of Outpatient Chemotherapy-related Adverse Effect on Daily Life and Work Productivity in Breast Cancer Patients

Abstract

The merit of outpatient chemotherapy is that patients can continue their daily life in their house and at their job, while the demerit is that patients sometimes experience severe adverse effect because they cannot prevent and treat adverse effects in their house. Therefore, investigated the impact of outpatient chemotherapy-related adverse effects on patient's daily life and work productivity. Subjects were 48 breast cancer patients receiving first outpatient chemotherapy in Gifu Municipal Hospital between December 2012 and November 2013. We performed a questionnaire survey on quality of life (EQ-5D and QOL-ACD), adverse effects and time loss before the 1st and the 2nd course. No significant decrease in EQ-5D utility was observed, but a significant decrease in QOL-ACD score was observed. The average hour when an adverse effect influenced patient's daily life was 3.63 hours/day, and the average work productivity was 2,359 yen/ day. The work productivity in the patients who answered " I suppose that I could have prevented this adverse effect if I had taken the drugs as the doctor directed. " were 1,545 yen/day in malaise and tiredness and 534 yen/day in nausea and vomiting. Regarding " I suppose that I could have prevented this adverse effect if I had been more careful in my daily life. " , the work productivity were 1,883 yen/day and 1,827 yen/day, respectively. The results suggest that the loss of work productivity caused by adverse effects would decrease if pharmacists instruct patients and improve their adherence, then prevent the adverse effects.