Ahmad Wajiha, Iqbal Shahid Muhammad, Jamil QurratulAin
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
Support Care Cancer. 2025 Mar 18;33(4):294. doi: 10.1007/s00520-025-09357-1.
This study evaluates financial toxicity (FT), its risk factors and assesses its relationship with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in cancer patients in Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
This was a cross-sectional study of cancer patients undergoing treatment in two public hospitals. It assessed FT with a Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity (COST) and HRQOL with a functional assessment of cancer therapy: general (FACT-G). A questionnaire was also utilised to collect and analyse data. We conducted a linear regression analysis to identify risk factors for FT and Pearson correlation to evaluate the association between FT and HRQOL.
The study included 336 patients between March and June 2024. The majority of the patients were female and from rural areas. The mean COST score was 7.21 (2-12), and the mean FACT-G score was 28.60 (22-37). There was a strong positive relationship between the COST and FACT-G scores, indicated by a correlation coefficient of 0.84 (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the study observed that the COST score was a reliable predictor of the FACT-G score. Multivariate linear regression analysis found cancer type (β = - 0.346; 95% CI, - 0.588 to - 0.103; P < 0.05), residence (β = - 0.494; 95% CI, - 1.005 to 0.017; P < 0.05), and distance between home and healthcare facility (β = - 0.340; 95% CI, - 0.607 to - 0.073; P < 0.05) as risk factors of the FT.
Our findings indicate high FT, underscoring the critical need for strategies to reduce the growing FT among cancer patients in Pakistan. Moreover, the significant relationship between FT and HRQOL needs further studies to explore potential causal factors.
本研究评估巴基斯坦巴哈瓦尔布尔癌症患者的经济毒性（FT）、其风险因素，并评估其与健康相关生活质量（HRQOL）的关系。
这是一项对两家公立医院正在接受治疗的癌症患者进行的横断面研究。它使用经济毒性综合评分（COST）评估FT，使用癌症治疗功能评估通用量表（FACT-G）评估HRQOL。还使用了一份问卷来收集和分析数据。我们进行了线性回归分析以确定FT的风险因素，并进行Pearson相关性分析以评估FT与HRQOL之间的关联。
该研究纳入了2024年3月至6月期间的336名患者。大多数患者为女性，来自农村地区。COST平均评分为7.21（2 - 12），FACT-G平均评分为28.60（22 - 37）。COST评分与FACT-G评分之间存在强正相关关系，相关系数为0.84（P < 0.001）。此外，研究观察到COST评分是FACT-G评分的可靠预测指标。多变量线性回归分析发现癌症类型（β = - 0.346；95% CI，- 0.588至 - 0.103；P < 0.05）、居住地（β = - 0.494；95% CI，- 1.005至0.017；P < 0.05）以及家与医疗机构之间的距离（β = - 0.340；95% CI，- 0.607至 - 0.073；P < 0.05）是FT的风险因素。
我们的研究结果表明经济毒性较高，凸显了在巴基斯坦癌症患者中制定策略以降低日益增长的经济毒性的迫切需求。此外，经济毒性与健康相关生活质量之间的显著关系需要进一步研究以探索潜在的因果因素。
