Losses of lifetime employment duration and productivity for patients with different subtypes and stages of lung cancer

Background How different subtypes and stages of lung cancer affect morbidity- and mortality-associated productivity have not been investigated. This study quantified the losses of lifetime employment duration and productivity among patients with various subtypes and stages of lung cancer. Methods We identified nationwide lung cancer patients diagnosed at the ages of 50–64 between 2011 and 2019. Monthly survival probabilities were weighted by monthly employed-to-population ratios and working salaries to estimate lifetime employment duration and productivity. We compared lifetime employment duration and productivity of patients with those of the age-, sex-, calendar year-matched general population for losses of lifetime employment duration and productivity, which were multiplied by pathology and stage shifts based on the first-round screening of Taiwan Lung Cancer Screening in Never Smoker Trial (TALENT) to calculate the savings of lifetime employment duration and productivity. Results Lung cancer patients had shorter survival and employment duration than the referents. Patients with lung cancers other than adenocarcinoma experienced greater losses of lifetime employment duration and productivity as compared to adenocarcinoma patients. Applying the estimations of never-smoking patients to 100 lung cancer patients with pathology and stage shifts based on the TALENT, the savings of lifetime employment duration and productivity were 132.2 (95% prediction interval: 116.2–147.4) years and 3353 (95% prediction interval: 2914–3802) thousand US dollars, respectively. Conclusions Early diagnosis of lung cancer would save the losses of employment duration and lifetime productivity. Future evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of lung cancer screening could consider incorporating these societal impacts.