Investigating the factors affecting exposure to catastrophic health expenditures among Lorestan households with cancer patients

Abstract

Introduction: The present study aims at investigating the most important factors affecting exposure to catastrophic health expenditures among Lorestan households with cancer patients. Methods: Data were collected from 220 households with cancer patients using a questionnaire of the World Health Organization entitled “Global Health Survey”. The research samples were selected through a convenience random sampling method and the researcher randomly interviewed patients who met the inclusion criteria and were willing to participate in the study. Excel software was used to clean data and Eviews and STSA14 software was used for estimation. Results: Based on the results of the study, 70% of households with cancer patients in the study population were exposed to catastrophic health expenditures. The values of Gini coefficient of income, health expenditure concentration index were estimated at 0.16 and 0.26 respectively. The Kakwani index value was estimated to be about 0.1, which showed a progressive trend in financing health expenditures. There was a significant relationship between the exposure to catastrophic health expenditures and the variables of household income status, age, household size, presence of people over 65 years in the household, employment status of the head of household, and type of treatment and cancer type. Conclusion: Based on the results of the study, the rate of exposure to catastrophic health expenditures services in households with cancer patients is high. Thus, these households need more financial support and health system policymakers should increase their supportive policies for these patients by increasing insurance coverages, defining specific health care packages for people with cancer and thus reducing the expenditures of treating these patients. Keywords: Cancer, Household, Catastrophic Health Expenditures, Out-of-Pocket Payments