Eid Dollen, Jabbour Jad, Moujaes Elissar, Kourie Hampig Raphael, Safieddine Maissa, Kattan Joseph
Department of Hematology and Oncology, Saint Joseph University, Faculty of Medicine, Mar Mikhaël, Beirut 0000, Lebanon.
Department of Hematology and Oncology, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif 94800, France.
World J Clin Oncol. 2024 May 24;15(5):644-652. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v15.i5.644.
As a consequence of the economic crisis, the sociopolitical instability and the advent of the coronavirus disease-19 pandemic, nested challenges faced the Lebanese healthcare system. These have resulted in critical shortages of essential resources, including medications vital for oncologic patients.
To assess the ramifications of the ongoing economic crisis on oncology patient care focusing on our outpatient oncology department.
A questionnaire was distributed during the month of February 2022 to oncology patients in Hôtel Dieu de France University Hospital in Beirut during their outpatient therapy. The primary objective was to assess the far-reaching impact of the economic crisis on patient care and the resulting psychological implications.
Among 182 interviewed patients, 31.87% experienced treatment interruption mainly due to acute drug shortages. Despite 87.91% of the patients benefiting from third-party coverage, 69.60% had to self-pay for their medications leading to 69.78% of patients perceiving that healthcare was more difficult to access after 2020. Psychologically, one-third of the patients exhibited symptoms of anxiety and/or depression, with 7 patients reporting suicidal ideations. Notably, 37.93% of patients who interrupted cancer treatment reported a history of comorbidities, and 89.66% who altered their treatment cited financial difficulties.
Lebanese cancer patients face complex challenges spanning economic, healthcare, and psychological realms. Income inequalities exacerbated by the economic crisis hindered healthcare access.
由于经济危机、社会政治不稳定以及新冠疫情的出现，黎巴嫩医疗系统面临多重挑战。这些挑战导致基本资源严重短缺，包括对肿瘤患者至关重要的药物。
评估当前经济危机对肿瘤患者护理的影响，重点关注我们的门诊肿瘤科室。
2022年2月，在贝鲁特法国主教会大学医院的肿瘤患者门诊治疗期间发放了问卷。主要目的是评估经济危机对患者护理的深远影响以及由此产生的心理影响。
在182名接受采访的患者中，31.87%的患者经历了治疗中断，主要原因是急性药物短缺。尽管87.91%的患者受益于第三方保险，但69.60%的患者仍需自付药费，导致69.78%的患者认为2020年后获得医疗服务更加困难。在心理方面，三分之一的患者表现出焦虑和/或抑郁症状，7名患者报告有自杀念头。值得注意的是，37.93%中断癌症治疗的患者有合并症病史，89.66%改变治疗方案的患者提到经济困难。
黎巴嫩癌症患者面临经济、医疗和心理等多方面的复杂挑战。经济危机加剧的收入不平等阻碍了医疗服务的可及性。
