The health burden and economic costs of cutaneous melanoma mortality by race/ethnicity–United States, 2000 to 2006

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2011.04.036Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Background

Cutaneous melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer with more than 8000 deaths per year in the United States. The health burden and economic costs associated with melanoma mortality by race/ethnicity have not been appropriately addressed.

Objective

We sought to quantify the health burden and economic costs associated with melanoma mortality among racial/ethnic groups in the United States.

Methods

We used 2000 to 2006 national mortality data and US life tables to estimate the number of deaths, and years of potential life lost (YPLL). Further, we estimated the economic costs of melanoma mortality in terms of productivity losses. All the estimates were stratified by race/ethnicity and sex.

Results

From 2000 to 2006, we estimated an increase of 13,349 (8.7%) YPLL because of melanoma mortality compared with a 2.8% increase among all malignant cancers across all race/ethnicity. On average, an individual in the United States loses 20.4 years of potential life during their lifetime as a result of melanoma mortality compared with 16.6 years for all malignant cancers. The estimated annual productivity loss attributed to melanoma mortality was $3.5 billion. Our estimates suggest that an individual who died from melanoma in 2000 through 2006 would lose an average of $413,370 in forgone lifetime earnings. YPLL rates and total productivity losses are much higher among non-Hispanic whites as compared with non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics.

Limitations

The estimated economic costs did not include treatment, morbidity, and intangible costs.

Conclusions

We estimated substantial YPLL and productivity losses as a result of melanoma mortality during an individual’s lifetime. By examining the burden by race/ethnicity, this study provides useful information to assist policy-makers in making informed resource allocation decisions regarding cutaneous melanoma mortality.

Key words

cancer
economic cost
melanoma
mortality
productivity loss
race/ethnicity
years of potential life lost

Abbreviations used

HCA
human capital approach
PVFLE
present value of future lifetime earnings
SEER
Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results
YPLL
years of potential life lost

Cited by (0)

Publication of this supplement to the JAAD was supported by the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Conflicts of interest: None declared.

The opinions or views expressed in this supplement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, recommendations, or official position of the journal editors or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Please see Appendix 1 for a glossary of technical terms used in this article.