BACKGROUND Little is known about how behavioral health (BH) conditions affect health care costs of patients with cancer in Japan. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to evaluate the magnitude of general medical claims expenditures for individuals with cancer who use or do not use BH services in Japan. METHODS The study used a health insurance claims database for more than 3 million enrollees in Japan. All health plan enrollees (18 y or older) who had tumors without metastasis or metastatic solid tumors defined by the Charlson Comorbidity Index were included in the study (n = 20,260). Measurements included total claims expenditures for BH and medical services. RESULTS The proportion of enrollees using BH services was 12.8%. BH service users accounted for 17.7% of total health service spending. Mean annual cost of total health care services were 1.5 times higher in BH users than those with no BH use, whereas the median was 1.8 times higher. Mean annual medical cost alone for BH users was 1.3 times higher than that for non-BH users, whereas the median was 1.5 times higher. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest the importance for the Japanese medical system to address BH needs of patients with cancer and introduce fiscal efficiencies to cancer care. Strategic implementation of effective integrated care services for patients with cancer should be considered in Japan.

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行为健康合并症对日本癌症患者医疗保健费用的影响

背景 关于行为健康 (BH) 状况如何影响日本癌症患者的医疗保健费用知之甚少。目的 本研究的目的是评估在日本使用或不使用 BH 服务的癌症患者的一般医疗索赔支出的规模。方法 该研究使用了日本超过 300 万登记者的健康保险索赔数据库。研究中包括了所有健康计划登记者（18 岁或以上），其肿瘤无转移或由 Charlson 合并症指数定义的转移性实体瘤（n = 20,260）。测量包括 BH 和医疗服务的总索赔支出。结果 使用 BH 服务的登记者比例为 12.8%。BH 服务用户占卫生服务总支出的 17.7%。BH 使用者的总医疗保健服务年均费用比不使用 BH 的人高 1.5 倍，而中位数则高 1.8 倍。BH 用户的年平均医疗费用比非 BH 用户高 1.3 倍，而中位数则高 1.5 倍。结论 研究结果表明，日本医疗系统对于解决癌症患者的 BH 需求以及将财政效率引入癌症护理具有重要意义。日本应考虑对癌症患者实施有效的综合护理服务。结论 研究结果表明，日本医疗系统对于解决癌症患者的 BH 需求以及将财政效率引入癌症护理具有重要意义。日本应考虑对癌症患者实施有效的综合护理服务。结论 研究结果表明，日本医疗系统对于解决癌症患者的 BH 需求以及将财政效率引入癌症护理具有重要意义。日本应考虑对癌症患者实施有效的综合护理服务。