PRESCRIPTION-BASED PREVALENCE OF BREAST CANCER IN GREECE: NATIONWIDE REAL-WORLD TRENDS FROM THE ELECTRONIC PRESCRIPTION DATABASE (2020-2022)
Author(s)
George Gourzoulidis, PhD1, Catherine Kastanioti, PhD1, George Mavridoglou, PhD2, Anastasios Tsolakidis, PhD3, Konstantinos Mathioudakis, PhD3, Ioannis E. Livieris, PhD1, Thodoris Kotsilieris, PhD1.
1Department of Business Administration & Organizations, University of the Peloponnese, Kalamata, Greece, 2Department of Accounting and Finance, University of the Peloponnese, Kalamata, Greece, 3IDIKA SA - E-Government Center for Social Security Services, Athens, Greece.
1Department of Business Administration & Organizations, University of the Peloponnese, Kalamata, Greece, 2Department of Accounting and Finance, University of the Peloponnese, Kalamata, Greece, 3IDIKA SA - E-Government Center for Social Security Services, Athens, Greece.
OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to estimate the prescription-based prevalence of treated breast cancer (BC) in Greece and evaluate temporal trends between 2020 and 2022 by age and sex.
METHODS: A retrospective observational study was conducted using anonymized nationwide electronic prescription data from IDIKA S.A. covering January 2020 to December 2022. Adult patients (≥18 years at index date) were identified through at least one reimbursed prescription associated with a BC-related ICD-10 diagnosis code. Prescription-based prevalence per 100,000 population was estimated using Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) population denominators and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) based on the Poisson approximation. Annual trends were assessed overall and stratified by sex and age group
RESULTS: A total of 93,585 unique adult patients received at least one BC-related prescription during the study period. Of these, 91,449 (97.7%) were female and 2,136 (2.3%) were male, with a mean age of 65.7 ± 14.0 years. The three-year prescription-based period prevalence was 2,022.9 per 100,000 females (95% CI: 2,009.8-2,036.0) and 38.5 per 100,000 males (95% CI: 36.8-40.1), yielding a combined total of 931.0 per 100,000 population (95% CI: 925.1-937.0). Overall annual prevalence increased by 8.4% across the study period. The largest relative increase was observed among women aged <40 years (+51.5%), while prevalence declined among women aged ≥80 years (−13.0%). Among males, the overall prescription-based prevalence rate showed a modest decline (−5.4%) over the same period, with the largest decrease observed in those aged ≥80 years (−23.1%).
CONCLUSIONS: This nationwide prescription-based analysis provides real-world estimates of treated BC prevalence in Greece. The increasing annual prevalence and age-related temporal shifts suggest changing patterns of treatment burden with important implications for healthcare planning and oncology resource allocation. In the absence of a national cancer registry, electronic prescription databases may serve as a valuable complementary tool for population-level cancer surveillance.
METHODS: A retrospective observational study was conducted using anonymized nationwide electronic prescription data from IDIKA S.A. covering January 2020 to December 2022. Adult patients (≥18 years at index date) were identified through at least one reimbursed prescription associated with a BC-related ICD-10 diagnosis code. Prescription-based prevalence per 100,000 population was estimated using Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) population denominators and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) based on the Poisson approximation. Annual trends were assessed overall and stratified by sex and age group
RESULTS: A total of 93,585 unique adult patients received at least one BC-related prescription during the study period. Of these, 91,449 (97.7%) were female and 2,136 (2.3%) were male, with a mean age of 65.7 ± 14.0 years. The three-year prescription-based period prevalence was 2,022.9 per 100,000 females (95% CI: 2,009.8-2,036.0) and 38.5 per 100,000 males (95% CI: 36.8-40.1), yielding a combined total of 931.0 per 100,000 population (95% CI: 925.1-937.0). Overall annual prevalence increased by 8.4% across the study period. The largest relative increase was observed among women aged <40 years (+51.5%), while prevalence declined among women aged ≥80 years (−13.0%). Among males, the overall prescription-based prevalence rate showed a modest decline (−5.4%) over the same period, with the largest decrease observed in those aged ≥80 years (−23.1%).
CONCLUSIONS: This nationwide prescription-based analysis provides real-world estimates of treated BC prevalence in Greece. The increasing annual prevalence and age-related temporal shifts suggest changing patterns of treatment burden with important implications for healthcare planning and oncology resource allocation. In the absence of a national cancer registry, electronic prescription databases may serve as a valuable complementary tool for population-level cancer surveillance.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2026-11, ISPOR Europe 2026, Vienna, Austria
Value in Health, Volume 29, Issue 12S
Code
EPH82
Topic
Epidemiology & Public Health, Real World Data & Information Systems
Topic Subcategory
Public Health
Disease
Oncology