Economic evaluation of breast cancer treatment: considering the value of patient choice

Study sample Power calculations were not reported. Eligible patients were identified from a 5% random sample of all Medicare claims for patients with a breast cancer diagnosis or surgery procedure, for the calendar years 1992 to 1994. Women with a history of cancer diagnosis, carcinoma-in-situ diagnosis, metastasis diagnosis, or bilateral procedure were excluded. Also excluded were cases that lacked a surgical procedure core, were missing a physician identifier, or occurred in women younger than 67 years of age. Further exclusions were cases for which breast cancer was not the primary procedure code, or for which breast cancer was not the primary diagnosis, and cases for which the surgeon could not be identified. Only women whose physicians were successfully contacted were included. Moreover, women whose cost data were not available in the claim files were also excluded, as were those who had breast-conservation surgery without radiation therapy.