The Out of Pocket Cost of Outpatient Breast Cancer in Konya, Turkey

İngilizce (OpenAlex)

Objective: Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women with increasing incidence and prevalence rates in the world and in our country, and it is inevitable that the costs associated with breast cancer create an economic burden for both states and patients. For this reason, in our study, it was aimed to determine the illness and disease-related out-of-pocket healthcare costs of patients receiving outpatient treatment due to breast cancer. Material and Methods: Our study, which is a quantitative study, also shows the feature of being a study in the field of health economics. The sample of the study consisted of 86 patients who receive outpatient treatment diagnosed with breast cancer (receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy) in Necmettin Erbakan University Meram Medical Faculty Hospital. Results: According to the data obtained from Konya Provincial Health Directorate Public Health Presidency, there were 444 confirmed breast cancer patients in Konya, 434 of which are women and 10 of which are men inn 2016. In the study, one-year out-of-pocket spending of breast cancer patients was calculated as 5,616 TL. Conclusion: The overall cost of breast cancer patients in Konya in 2018 was calculated as 2,493,876.98 TL, this cost was 2,437,708.56 TL for female breast cancer patients and 56,168.4 TL for male breast cancer patients. A detailed examination of other cost items will be a guide for the costs of breast cancer patients and for reducing these costs.