HPM student wins research award at pharmacoeconomics conference

June 20, 2014

Health policy and management doctoral student Caroleen Quach was a “Best Poster” finalist at the 19th annual conference of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research. Of the more than 1,800 poster presentations, hers was selected as one of the top 100.

Caroleen Quach stands in front of her winning research poster.

Quach’s study measured the impact of colorectal cancer upon the lives of older American adults. It is one of the first population-based studies to quantify health-related quality-of-life changes from before to after colorectal cancer diagnosis for Medicare Advantage enrollees ages 65 years and older, compared to matched controls without cancer.

“We found that despite similar activities of daily living impairment and risk for major depressive disorder in the two groups at baseline (before cancer diagnosis), patients with colorectal cancer experienced significantly greater decrements in both outcomes following diagnosis and treatment,” Quach said. “The study provides an improved understanding of cancer- and treatment-related effects to inform the development of multi-faceted interventions to support this vulnerable population—especially later-stage patients, and particularly in the six months following colorectal cancer diagnosis.”