Out-of-pocket expenses experienced by rural Western Australians diagnosed with cancer

© 2018 Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature Purpose: Out-of-pocket expenses (OOPE) can have a significant impact on patients’ experiences of cancer treatment. This cross-sectional study sought to quantify the OOPEs experienced by rural cancer patients in Western Australia (WA), and...

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Main Authors: Newton, J., Johnson, C., Hohnen, H., Bulsara, M., Ives, A., McKiernan, S., Platt, V., McConigley, Ruth, Slavova-Azmanova, N., Saunders, C.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Springer 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66772
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author Newton, J.
Johnson, C.
Hohnen, H.
Bulsara, M.
Ives, A.
McKiernan, S.
Platt, V.
McConigley, Ruth
Slavova-Azmanova, N.
Saunders, C.
author_facet Newton, J.
Johnson, C.
Hohnen, H.
Bulsara, M.
Ives, A.
McKiernan, S.
Platt, V.
McConigley, Ruth
Slavova-Azmanova, N.
Saunders, C.
author_sort Newton, J.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2018 Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature Purpose: Out-of-pocket expenses (OOPE) can have a significant impact on patients’ experiences of cancer treatment. This cross-sectional study sought to quantify the OOPEs experienced by rural cancer patients in Western Australia (WA), and determine factors that contributed to higher OOPE. Methods: Four hundred people diagnosed with breast, lung, colorectal or prostate cancer who resided in selected rural regions of WA were recruited through the WA Cancer Registry and contacted at least 3 months after diagnosis to report the medical OOPE (such as surgery or chemotherapy, supportive care, medication and tests) and non-medical OOPE (such as travel costs, new clothing and utilities) they had experienced as a result of accessing and receiving treatment. Bootstrapped t tests identified demographic, financial and treatment-related factors to include in multivariate analysis, performed using log-linked generalised linear models with gamma distribution. Results: After a median 21 weeks post-diagnosis, participants experienced an average OOPE of AU$2179 (bootstrapped 95% confidence interval $1873–$2518), and 45 (11%) spent more than 10% of their household income on these expenses. Participants likely to experience higher total OOPE were younger than 65 years (p = 0.008), resided outside the South West region (p = 0.007) and had private health insurance (PHI) (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Rural WA cancer patients experience significant OOPE following their diagnosis. The impact these expenses have on patient wellbeing and their treatment decisions need to be further explored.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-667722018-05-18T08:04:21Z Out-of-pocket expenses experienced by rural Western Australians diagnosed with cancer Newton, J. Johnson, C. Hohnen, H. Bulsara, M. Ives, A. McKiernan, S. Platt, V. McConigley, Ruth Slavova-Azmanova, N. Saunders, C. © 2018 Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature Purpose: Out-of-pocket expenses (OOPE) can have a significant impact on patients’ experiences of cancer treatment. This cross-sectional study sought to quantify the OOPEs experienced by rural cancer patients in Western Australia (WA), and determine factors that contributed to higher OOPE. Methods: Four hundred people diagnosed with breast, lung, colorectal or prostate cancer who resided in selected rural regions of WA were recruited through the WA Cancer Registry and contacted at least 3 months after diagnosis to report the medical OOPE (such as surgery or chemotherapy, supportive care, medication and tests) and non-medical OOPE (such as travel costs, new clothing and utilities) they had experienced as a result of accessing and receiving treatment. Bootstrapped t tests identified demographic, financial and treatment-related factors to include in multivariate analysis, performed using log-linked generalised linear models with gamma distribution. Results: After a median 21 weeks post-diagnosis, participants experienced an average OOPE of AU$2179 (bootstrapped 95% confidence interval $1873–$2518), and 45 (11%) spent more than 10% of their household income on these expenses. Participants likely to experience higher total OOPE were younger than 65 years (p = 0.008), resided outside the South West region (p = 0.007) and had private health insurance (PHI) (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Rural WA cancer patients experience significant OOPE following their diagnosis. The impact these expenses have on patient wellbeing and their treatment decisions need to be further explored. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66772 10.1007/s00520-018-4205-2 Springer restricted
spellingShingle Newton, J.
Johnson, C.
Hohnen, H.
Bulsara, M.
Ives, A.
McKiernan, S.
Platt, V.
McConigley, Ruth
Slavova-Azmanova, N.
Saunders, C.
Out-of-pocket expenses experienced by rural Western Australians diagnosed with cancer
title Out-of-pocket expenses experienced by rural Western Australians diagnosed with cancer
title_full Out-of-pocket expenses experienced by rural Western Australians diagnosed with cancer
title_fullStr Out-of-pocket expenses experienced by rural Western Australians diagnosed with cancer
title_full_unstemmed Out-of-pocket expenses experienced by rural Western Australians diagnosed with cancer
title_short Out-of-pocket expenses experienced by rural Western Australians diagnosed with cancer
title_sort out-of-pocket expenses experienced by rural western australians diagnosed with cancer
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66772