Home Chemotherapy evaluation A systematic literature review on home chemotherapy concerning cost benefits, patient satisfaction, and the quality of life

Abstract

Purpose With an aging population in Norway, there is increasing pressure on healthcare to provide better healthcare services and more advanced clinical equipment to treat the patients. But, unfortunately, aging increases the risk of cancer, and the corona pandemic has once again shown us how scarce resources are in healthcare. Patients receiving chemotherapy usually spend a lot of time at the hospital to receive their treatment. However, recent studies showed that the implementation of chemotherapy is feasible at home. This could result in the availability of hospital capacity. This study wants to investigate if home chemotherapy is a cost-beneficial alternative to hospital chemotherapy and whether it affects patients’ satisfaction from the treatment or their quality of life. Design and methodology This study uses a systematic literature review to evaluate home chemotherapy for three domains of the outcome: cost benefits, patient satisfaction, and quality of life. Studies are found based on the inclusion criteria described in the methodology, and final included studies are evaluated for the risk of bias. Findings Home chemotherapy appears to be the cost-benefit alternative in almost all studies reviewed; if the direct costs to the patient and children with cancer, the direct and indirect out-of-pocket cost to there are considered. In addition, home chemotherapy appears to increase patients’ satisfaction significantly and does not seem to affect the quality of life in terms of the patient’s clinical condition.