Bovell Andre A N, Ncayiyana Jabulani, Ginindza Themba G
Discipline of Public Health Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa.
Cancer & Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Research Unit (CIDERU), College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2025 Jun 12;22(6):930. doi: 10.3390/ijerph22060930.
Cancers are problematic for health systems globally, including in Antigua and Barbuda, where understanding the changing extent of common cancers is key to implementing effective prevention and control strategies. This study aimed to assess the relationship between treatment rates and drug treatment costs along with characteristics affecting these costs for patients with female breast, cervical, colorectal and prostate cancers in Antigua and Barbuda from 2017 to 2021. A retrospective observational study design was used. Estimates of age-standardized treatment rates and drug treatment costs were determined using direct standardization and a micro-costing approach, respectively. Linear regression was used to evaluate the relationship between age-standardized treatment rates and drug treatment costs. Model independent variables were assessed for multicollinearity and residuals examined for variance and normality. With a sum of 242 cases identified for this study, each cancer type showed evidence of strong positive correlations and significant associations between treatment costs and age-standardized treatment rates. The mean cost (USD) of drug treatment was highest for female breast (USD 25,009.63) and colorectal (USD 13,317.16) cancers and lowest for prostate (USD 12,528.10) and cervical (USD 5121.41) cancers, with several variables showing significance in the respective final models. An association existed between age-standardized treatment rates and drug treatment costs for the cancers studied. These results offer a basis for encouraging strategies in obtaining affordably priced cancer medicines in Antigua and Barbuda.
癌症对全球卫生系统来说都是难题，在安提瓜和巴布达亦是如此，了解常见癌症不断变化的情况对于实施有效的预防和控制策略至关重要。本研究旨在评估2017年至2021年期间安提瓜和巴布达女性乳腺癌、宫颈癌、结直肠癌和前列腺癌患者的治疗率与药物治疗成本之间的关系，以及影响这些成本的特征。采用了回顾性观察研究设计。年龄标准化治疗率和药物治疗成本的估计分别使用直接标准化和微观成本核算方法确定。使用线性回归来评估年龄标准化治疗率与药物治疗成本之间的关系。对模型自变量进行多重共线性评估，并对残差进行方差和正态性检验。本研究共确定了242例病例，每种癌症类型都显示出治疗成本与年龄标准化治疗率之间存在强正相关和显著关联。药物治疗的平均成本（美元）在女性乳腺癌（25,009.63美元）和结直肠癌（13,317.16美元）中最高，在前列腺癌（12,528.10美元）和宫颈癌（5121.41美元）中最低，几个变量在各自的最终模型中具有显著性。所研究癌症的年龄标准化治疗率与药物治疗成本之间存在关联。这些结果为安提瓜和巴布达鼓励采取策略获取价格可承受的癌症药物提供了依据。
