The economic cost of cancer treatment in Iran
نویسندگان
1 1 Associate Professor, Health Services Management, Health Management and Economics Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
2 Health Information Technology Research Center, Student Research Committee, Department of Medical Library and Information Sciences, School of Management and Medical Information Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
3 Student Research Committee, Health Management and Economics Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
4 Student Research Committee, Health Management and Economics Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
doi
چکیده
BACKGROUND: With more than 12 million new cases of cancers and nearly 7.6 million deathsworldwide in 2020, cancer is currently the third leading cause of mortality in the world. The costsspent on treating patients with cancer account for a significant amount of healthcare costs. Healthcareexpenditures for cancer treatment have also increased significantly and are projected to skyrocketfurther over the next decade. This study was conducted to determine medical and non‑medical directcosts for the prevention of cancer in patients hospitalized in 10 selected educational hospitals in Iran.MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study employed a cross‑sectional design and was conducted in10 selected educational hospitals in Tabriz, Tehran, Isfahan, Mashhad, and Shiraz in 2020. Usinga researcher‑made questionnaire, we assessed direct medical costs and direct non-medical costsof cancer in patients over 20 years old with kinds of breast, prostate, leukemia, lymphatic, stomach,liver, lung, bladder, uterine, and intestine cancers who undertook oncology treatments (n = 2410).Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including mean and standard deviation and analyticstatistics such as Kolmogorov–Smirnov, analysis of variance, and t‑test, using SPSS 18 and P ≤0.05.RESULT: The mean direct non-medical cost paid out of pocket per month was $99.6 ± $10.81 USD,and the mean direct medical cost per month was $1029.4 ± $68.5 USD. The total cost paid by thepatients was $889.4 ± 69.81 USD per month.CONCLUSION: Given the increasing number of patients with cancer, it is necessary to increase thenumber of special centers for the prevention and treatment of cancers. Dissemination of informationabout the costs of illnesses and their complications enables decision‑makers to make a propercomparison between different uses of resources. Moreover, to support the patients, the health systemmust implement plans to decrease out‑of‑pocket payments by patients.
