Financial burden of prostate cancer in the Iranian population: a cost of illness and financial risk protection analysis

• Published in: Cost effectiveness and resource allocation Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 1 - 84
• Main Authors: Alinezhad, Farbod, Khalili, Farhad, Zare, Hossein, Lu, Chunling, Mahmoudi, Zahra, Yousefi, Mahmood
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central Ltd 06-11-2023; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Cancer; Cancer therapies; Cost control; Cost of illness; Financial risk; Health care expenditures; Health economics; Health expenditures; Hospitals; Human capital; Illnesses; Low income groups; Medical care, Cost of; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Mortality; Patients; Prevalence-based; Prevention; Productivity; Prostate cancer; Questionnaires; World health; Iran
• ISSN: 1478-7547; 1478-7547
• DOI: 10.1186/s12962-023-00493-1

Abstract
Background
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in males worldwide and the third most common among Iran’s male population. However, there is a lack of evidence regarding its direct and indirect costs in low and middle-income countries. This study intends to bridge the gap using a cost of illness approach, assessing the costs of prostate cancer from the perspectives of patients, society, and the insurance system.
Methods
Two hundred ninety seven patients were included in the study. Data for a 2-month period were obtained from patients registered at two hospitals (Tabriz, Tehran) in Iran in 2017. We applied a prevalence-based, bottom-up approach to assess the costs of the illness. We used the World Health Organization methods to measure the prevalence and investigate the determinants of catastrophic and impoverishing health expenditures.
Results
We determined the total costs of the disease for the patients to be IRR 68 million (PPP $ 5,244.44). Total costs of the disease from the perspective of the society amounted to IRR 700,000 million (PPP $ 54 million). Insurance companies expended IRR 20 million (PPP $ 1,558.80) per patient. Our findings show that 31% of the patients incurred catastrophic health expenditure due to the disease. Five point forty-four percent (5.44%) of the patients were impoverished due to the costs of this cancer.
Conclusion
We found an alarmingly high prevalence of catastrophic health expenditures among prostate cancer patients. In addition, prostate cancer puts a substantial burden on both the patients and society.