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Watching some #SMDM20 abstracts on my lunch break! Here are 3 favorites in the health services outcomes & policy group:
(#1) Lisa Hess & colleagues used insurance claims to match households where 1 partner had a cancer dx to households without cancer dx and showed the caregiving (non-cancer) partners in the cancer HH had lower average health expenditures than their matched controls...
(#1) and general health concerns reported in claims were similar BUT cancer caregivers had more reported mental health claims than controls. Reported data were for male/female HHs but they mention similar (unreported) findings in same sex HHs- would love to see those data too!
(#2) A fascinating study from @ryansuk_health combining data from SEER, NCHS, and ACS to look at suicidal death in cancer patients by county characteristics. She reports a standardized mortality ratio so these difference are cancer vs. non-cancer within the same county.
(#2) This was an interesting combination of data sources. Cancer patients have higher suicide rates than non-cancer across most counties but this gradient is more pronounced in lower-income, rural, and high unemployment counties.
(#2) We obviously care about the gradient but would love to also see these differences reported in absolute terms too given that numbers of cancer cases and "expected" suicidal deaths also differ across these categories. Does this compound for absolute numbers?
(#3) @vini_singh44 I think maybe you uploaded the wrong file because it cuts off just after your intro. But maybe you're playing the long con because I am extra interested in hearing the results now that I only heard the set up!
