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Meta-Analysis
. 2024 Jan 2:11:1266533.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1266533. eCollection 2023.

Describing financial toxicity among cancer patients in different income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Meram Azzani  1   2 , Wahib Mohammed Atroosh  3   4 , Deepa Anbazhagan  5 , Vinoth Kumarasamy  6 , Mona Mohamed Ibrahim Abdalla  7
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Describing financial toxicity among cancer patients in different income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Meram Azzani et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: There is limited evidence of financial toxicity (FT) among cancer patients from countries of various income levels. Hence, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of objective and subjective FT and their measurements in relation to cancer treatment.

Methods: PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and CINAHL databases were searched to find studies that examined FT. There was no limit on the design or setting of the study. Random-effects meta-analysis was utilized to obtain the pooled prevalence of objective FT.

Results: Out of 244 identified studies during the initial screening, only 64 studies were included in this review. The catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) method was often used in the included studies to determine the objective FT. The pooled prevalence of CHE was 47% (95% CI: 24.0-70.0) in middle- and high-income countries, and the highest percentage was noted in low-income countries (74.4%). A total of 30 studies focused on subjective FT, of which 9 used the Comprehensive Score for FT (COST) tool and reported median scores ranging between 17.0 and 31.9.

Conclusion: This study shows that cancer patients from various income-group countries experienced a significant financial burden during their treatment. It is imperative to conduct further studies on interventions and policies that can lower FT caused by cancer treatment.

Keywords: catastrophic health expenditure; direct medical cost; direct non-medical cost; indirect medical cost; meta-analysis; perceived financial hardship; systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of literature review search per Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA 2020) guidelines.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Random-effects meta-analysis of studies that reported the prevalence of catastrophic health expenditure.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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