Journal of Education and Health Promotion

The economic cost of cancer treatment in Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Alireza Jabbari 1
. Marziye Hadian 2
. Elaheh Mazaheri 3
. Zahra Khakdel Jelodar 2

1 1 Associate Professor, Health Services Management, Health Management and Economics Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

2 Student Research Committee, Health Management and Economics Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

3 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

Abstract
BACKGROUND: With more than 12 million new cases of cancers and nearly 7.6 million deaths
worldwide in 2020, cancer is currently the third leading cause of mortality in the world. The costs
spent on treating patients with cancer account for a significant amount of healthcare costs. Healthcare
expenditures for cancer treatment have also increased significantly and are projected to skyrocket
further over the next decade. This study was conducted to determine medical and non‑medical direct
costs 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 in
10 selected educational hospitals in Tabriz, Tehran, Isfahan, Mashhad, and Shiraz in 2020. Using
a researcher‑made questionnaire, we assessed direct medical costs and direct non-medical costs
of 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 analytic
statistics 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 the
patients was $889.4 ± 69.81 USD per month.
CONCLUSION: Given the increasing number of patients with cancer, it is necessary to increase the
number of special centers for the prevention and treatment of cancers. Dissemination of information
about the costs of illnesses and their complications enables decision‑makers to make a proper
comparison between different uses of resources. Moreover, to support the patients, the health system
must implement plans to decrease out‑of‑pocket payments by patients.

Keywords

Cancer
direct medical costs
direct non-medical costs
economic cost
Iran
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 13, Issue 1
Winter 2023
Pages 1-6

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