Alghamdi Ahmed, Balkhi Bander, Alqahtani Shahad, Almotairi Hamoud
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
Pharmacy Department, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
Healthcare (Basel). 2021 Jul 18;9(7):907. doi: 10.3390/healthcare9070907.
Globally, breast cancer management is associated with a heavy economic burden, but its impact in Saudi Arabia has not been fully quantified. The aim of this study was to estimate the economic burden of breast cancer management at various disease stages, in Saudi Arabia, from a payer perspective. We conducted a retrospective, multicenter cost of illness study in two governmental healthcare centers from January to December 2018, using the data of 300 patients at different breast cancer stages. A micro-costing, bottom-up method was used, and descriptive and inferential statistics were analyzed. The total estimated cost for treating breast cancer during the study period was $13.345 million USD, with the average cost per patient ranging from $14,249 USD in stage I to $81,489 USD in stage IV ( < 0.001). Medication cost was the main driver of total healthcare spending, followed by hospitalization and diagnostic tests. The cost of targeted therapy drugs represented 67% of the total medication costs, mostly driven by trastuzumab-based regimens. The economic burden of breast cancer management in Saudi Arabia is substantial and increases significantly with disease advancement. Early detection screening programs, evaluating the value of highly expensive interventions, and considering biosimilars, may contribute toward cost savings.
在全球范围内，乳腺癌的治疗带来了沉重的经济负担，但在沙特阿拉伯，其影响尚未得到充分量化。本研究的目的是从支付方的角度估算沙特阿拉伯不同疾病阶段乳腺癌治疗的经济负担。我们于2018年1月至12月在两个政府医疗中心开展了一项回顾性多中心疾病成本研究，使用了300例处于不同乳腺癌阶段患者的数据。采用微观成本核算、自下而上的方法，并对描述性和推断性统计数据进行了分析。研究期间治疗乳腺癌的总估计成本为1334.5万美元，每位患者的平均成本从I期的14249美元到IV期的81489美元不等（<0.001）。药物成本是医疗总支出的主要驱动因素，其次是住院和诊断检查。靶向治疗药物的成本占药物总成本的67%，主要由基于曲妥珠单抗的治疗方案驱动。沙特阿拉伯乳腺癌治疗的经济负担巨大，且随着疾病进展显著增加。早期检测筛查计划、评估高成本干预措施的价值以及考虑生物类似药，可能有助于节省成本。
