Breast Cancer-Related Financial Toxicity in Sri Lanka : Insights From a Lower Middle-Income Country With Free Universal Public Healthcare

© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press..

Financial toxicity (FT) describes either objective or perceived excess financial strain due to a cancer diagnosis on the well-being of patients, families, and society. The consequences of FT have been shown to span countries of varied economic tiers and diverse healthcare models. This study attempts to describe FT and its effects in a lower- to middle-income country delivering predominantly public nonfee-levying healthcare. This was a cross-sectional study involving 210 patients with breast cancer of any stage (I to IV), interviewed between 6 and 18 months from the date of diagnosis. Financial toxicity was highly prevalent with 81% reporting 3 or more on a scale of 1 to 5. Costs incurred for travelling (94%), out-of-hospital investigations (87%), and consultation fees outside the public system (81%) were the most common contributors to FT. Daily compromises for food and education were made by 30% and 20%, respectively, with loss of work seen in over one-third. Greater FT was seen with advanced cancer stage and increasing distance to the nearest radiotherapy unit (P = .008 and .01, respectively). Family and relatives were the most common form of financial support (77.6%). In conclusion, FT is substantial in our group, with many having to make daily compromises for basic needs. Many opt to visit the fee-levying private sector for at least some part of their care, despite the availability of an established public nonfee-levying healthcare.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:29

Enthalten in:

The oncologist - 29(2024), 2 vom: 02. Feb., Seite e259-e265

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Ranawaka, Sarith [VerfasserIn]
Gunarathna, Sathika [VerfasserIn]
Gunasekera, Sanjeeva [VerfasserIn]
Booth, Christopher M [VerfasserIn]
Jalink, Matthew [VerfasserIn]
Carson, Laura M [VerfasserIn]
Berry, Scott [VerfasserIn]
Gyawali, Bishal [VerfasserIn]
Seneviratne, Sanjeewa [VerfasserIn]
Wijeratne, Don Thiwanka [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Breast cancer
Financial toxicity
Journal Article
LMIC
Lower-to-middle income countries

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 05.02.2024

Date Revised 05.02.2024

published: Print

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1093/oncolo/oyad259

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM362369925