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BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is an association between stage of incident breast cancer (BC) and personal income three years after diagnosis. The analysis further considered whether the association differed among educational groups.MethodsThe study was based on information from Danish nationwide registers. A total of 7,372 women aged 30–60 years diagnosed with BC, 48% with metastasis, were compared to 213,276 controls. Generalised linear models were used to estimate the effect of a cancer diagnosis on personal gross income three years after diagnosis, stratified by education and stage of cancer. The models were adjusted for income two years prior to cancer diagnosis and demographic, geographic and co-morbidity covariates.ResultsAdjusting for income two years prior to cancer diagnosis and other baseline covariates (see above), cancer had a minor effect on personal income three years after diagnosis. The effect of metastatic BC was a statistically significant reduction in income three years after diagnosis of −3.4% (95% CI −4.8;-2.0), −2.8% (95% CI −4.3;-1.3) and −4.1 (95% CI −5.9;-2.3) among further, vocational and low educated women, respectively. The corresponding estimates for the effect of localised BC were −2.5% (95% CI −3.8; −1.2), −1.6% (95% CI −3.0; −0.2) and −1.7% (95% CI −3.7; 0.3); the latter estimate (for the low-educated) was not statistically different from zero. We found no statistically significant educational gradient in the effect of cancer stage on income.ConclusionsIn a Danish context, the very small negative effect of BC on personal income may be explained by different types of compensation in low- and high-income groups. The public income transfers are equal for all income groups and cover a relatively high compensation among low-income groups. However, high-income groups additionally receive pay-outs from private pension and insurance schemes, which typically provide higher coverage for high-income workers.

BackgroundUse of oral anticoagulation therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) involves a trade-off between a reduced risk of ischemic stroke and an increased risk of bleeding events. Different anticoagulation therapies have different safety profiles and data on the societal costs of both ischemic stroke and bleeding events are necessary for assessing the cost-effectiveness and budgetary impact of different treatment options. To our knowledge, no previous studies have estimated the societal costs of bleeding events in patients with AF.The objective of this study was to estimate the 3-years societal costs of first-incident intracranial, gastrointestinal and other major bleeding events in Danish patients with AF.MethodsThe study was an incidence-based cost-of-illness study carried out from a societal perspective and based on data from national Danish registries covering the period 2002-2012. Costs were estimated using a propensity score matching and multivariable regression analysis (first difference OLS) in a cohort design.ResultsAverage 3-years societal costs attributable to intracranial, gastrointestinal and other major bleeding events were 27,627, 17,868, and 12,384 EUR per patient, respectively (2015 prices). Existing evidence shows that the corresponding costs of ischemic stroke were 24,084 EUR per patient (2012 prices). The average costs of bleeding events did not differ between patients with AF who were on oral anticoagulation therapy prior to the event and patients who were not.ConclusionsThe societal costs attributable to major bleeding events in patients with AF are significant. Intracranial haemorrhages are most costly to society with average costs of similar magnitude as the costs of ischemic stroke. The average costs of gastrointestinal and other major bleeding events are lower than the costs of intracranial haemorrhages, but still substantial. Knowledge about the relative size of the costs of bleeding events compared to ischemic stroke in patients with AF constitutes valuable evidence for decisions-makers in Denmark as well as in other countries.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-017-2331-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The societal costs of first-incident stroke in patients with AF are substantial. This new evidence can be valuable as an input for decision making regarding the treatment of AF and prevention of future strokes.

Previous papers have suggested that financial transfers from parents to children are significant around the time that children buy their first home. Using a Danish data set with longitudinal information about wealth for a sample of first-time homeowners and their parents, we test whether there are direct financial transfers from parents to children in connection with the purchase of the house or in connection with unemployment spells occurring just after the purchase when children typically hold few liquid assets. We first document that child and parent financial resources are correlated. We then introduce conditioning variables and show that these weaken the intergenerational correlation. In the most ambitious specification we exploit the panel aspect of the data to also condition on fixed unobserved factors that arguably govern preference parameters and/or productivity, and we find no evidence of intergenerational correlations, suggesting that, in the Danish context, direct transfers from parents to children are not important around the time of the purchase of the first home.JEL code: D91, E21, R29