Top 10 most frequently prescribed medicines.
cancer type, cancer, breathlessness, pain
DISEASE, CANCER, ADVANCED CANCER
More than one in five people with advanced cancer and pain were prescribed a lipid modifying agent, contrary to guidance to reduce the burden of medications in advanced disease, particularly from medications such as statins which are only prescribed for long term population-level risk reduction [The remaining top ten most frequently prescribed medications in the study sample were related to the treatment of pain (or, to a lesser extent, breathlessness [Few factors were associated with total healthcare costs, contrary to findings reported in the US [Differences in total healthcare costs between males and females with advanced cancer and pain is consistent with previous evidence which suggests a gender difference in total healthcare resource utilisation and costs for people living with cancer [Finally, patterns in MBS costs by cancer type are consistent with population-based estimates of health services costs for people receiving cancer care (with or without pain) in Australia which suggest healthcare costs vary by cancer type and time since diagnosis, possibly driven by differences in treatment modalities and frequency, new targeted therapies and immunotherapies, and associated tests and administrative MBS items [