Context: The experience of childhood cancer imposes a considerable financial cost on a household. This financial and economic cost is often the cause of abandonment of care.
The objective of this study was to determine the average total costs of childhood cancer management from diagnosis to one year of follow-up while exploring its impact on households.
Methods: We used a mixed study, with a micro-costing approach, to calculate the financial and economic costs of households when they support the cancer of one of their members. To analyze the data, we used descriptive statistics and descriptive qualitative methods.
Results: Our study covered 129 households, the average age of guardians being 36.1±9.3 years. Households traveled an average distance of 77.2±41.36 km to reach the hospital. The majority of households financed their own health care (95.9%). The tutors spent an average total cost of $524.4±$50, of which with a direct cost ($378.1±$61) representing 72.1% of the total cost and 27.9% of the indirect cost ($146.3±$39). Nephroblastoma had an average annual cost of $1042 higher compared to other types of cancers followed by leukemia ($977.3), lymphoma ($831.7), neuroblastoma ($803.1), and retinoblastoma ($797.5), bone tumors ($733.8).
Findings: The results of this study suggest the importance for the government to create a system of insurance or mutual health insurance which will make it possible to alleviate the costs and which would play an important role in alleviating the financial burden of households in patients with cancer.
Keywords: Financial and economic cost, Care, Cancers, Child
