March 4 (UPI) -- Many younger women diagnosed with breast cancer face financial hardship in addition to their health worries, a new analysis has found.
In a study published Wednesday in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, researchers found that nearly half of all women between age 18 and 39 experience money problems after their diagnosis, even if they have a job and health insurance.
The study was supported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"A lot of women don't have a good sense of how much a cancer diagnosis will cost, including out-of- pocket costs," author Florence K.L. Tangka, a health economist in the agency's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, said in a press release. "We feel that if they have cost information, they can develop better financial plans to cover their treatment expenses."
The median age of women diagnosed with breast cancer is 62, according to the American Cancer Society.
However, as many as 4 percent of women with the disease are under age 40, based on the most recent estimates from ACS -- meaning they are in the early stages of building careers and raising families, which may influence how the diagnosis affects them.
Tangka and her colleagues identified women between 18 and 39 who had received a breast cancer diagnosis between January 2013 and December 2014, using state cancer registries in California, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. They chose these states because they have relatively large numbers of young breast cancer patients across all major racial or ethnic groups, Tangka said.
For the study, 830 women completed a survey that included questions on insurance status, out-of-pocket costs related to their cancer care, employment status and benefits such as sick leave and scheduling flexibility and access to treatment and quality of care. In all, 830 women completed the survey.
About 47 percent said they experienced financial decline due to costs related to the cancer care. With regard to out-of-pocket costs, 27.7 percent of the women spent less than $500 while 27.9 percent spent between $500 and $2,000 and 18.7 percent spent between $2,001 and $5,000. Some 17 percent spent between $5,001 and $10,000.
In order to cover these costs, nearly 82 percent of the respondents used personal funds, while nearly 23 percent borrowed from family or friends or left some medical bills unpaid. Nearly 22 percent experienced increased credit card debt as a result of out-of-pocket costs. The researchers found that women diagnosed at stage 3 or stage 4 were most likely to experience financial hardship.
In addition, many women reported that their cancer diagnosis affected their jobs, with more than 40 percent saying their job performance had suffered and more than 12 percent reporting that they had to quit their jobs. Also, nearly 24 percent of women said they had avoided changing jobs in order to keep their health insurance.
Nearly half -- 47.3 percent -- took unpaid time off during their breast cancer treatment.
Tangka said that while employment benefits varied, programs like paid sick leave, flexible scheduling, disability leave and telecommuting often helped women maintain their employment status.
She said future research could examine additional employment modifications, such as increasing part-time options, adding that a greater understanding of cancer care costs could help inform some women's treatment decisions.
"Even though patients and physicians understand the importance of having discussions about the economic burden of cancer, such conversations seldom occur," Tangka said. "Cancer patients may not have choices in all aspects of cancer care, but if they have information on the duration of treatment and how much they need to pay out of pocket, they can plan better."
