Medical Cost to Treat Cervical Cancer Patients at a Social Security Third Level Oncology Hospital in Mexico City

摘要

Background: Cervical Cancer (CC) is an important public health problem worldwide. In 2015, CC was the sixthleading cause of death for women aged 30-59 years in Mexico. Despite the importance of having high-quality andaccurate estimates of CC treatment costs that can be used to effectively evaluate the impact of preventive programs, thereis scarce information on this topic in Mexico. Objective: To estimate the treatment costs by stage diagnosis in patientswith CC at a Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) oncology hospital in Mexico City. Methods: An observationalretrospective study of the resources used to treat 346 women with CC was conducted. Medical charts were reviewed andrelevant resource use information was extracted using a data collection instrument that was created based on treatmentguidelines. Data were classified into nine cost categories to estimate the total cost per patient. Results: The mean ageof patients in the study sample was 54.3 years (range: 41-67), and the average body mass index (BMI) was 26 kg/m2.Among the participants, 37% were smokers, 39% had diabetes, and 56% had hypertension. The medical cost for stagesI-IV ranged from $4,738 to $6,058 USD, with an estimated average cost of $5,114 USD. Conclusion: Total treatmentcosts per patient are high, especially since they were estimated considering only 7.5 months of treatment. This is thefirst study to estimate the annual cost to treat CC in Mexico and to additionally document the resource pattern use, costby stage of cancer, and the distribution by cost categories.