The cost of childhood cancer from the family's perspective: A critical review

Abstract

The costs incurred by the families of children with cancer remain under researched. The objectives were to systematically review the literature and identify research and clinical implications. Thirteen studies were critically appraised using the Pediatric Quality Appraisal Questionnaire (PQAQ) [Ungar and Santos. Value Health 2003; 6:584-594]. Existing research indicates that families incur significant variable costs throughout cancer treatment. However, problems with the published studies related to various PQAQ domains (e.g., time horizon, sensitivity analysis) rendered the magnitude of families' childhood cancer costs somewhat uncertain. Strategies for enhancing the quality of childhood cancer cost of illness research are presented. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.

Determining the Costs of Families’ Support Networks Following a Child’s Cancer Diagnosis

“…13 To permit comparisons across studies, costs were analyzed according to a uniformly determined set of childhood cancer cost categories. 20 Each cost item was categorized accordingly. 20 Each cost item was categorized accordingly.…”

Cost of treatment for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in Bangladesh

“…Cooperation and collaboration at both national and international levels has helped to achieve this success [1][2][3] The costs of such intensive therapy has been calculated at between 100,000-200,000 USD in high income countries (HICs) where health services are free at the point of care, paid by the public sector and /or insurance schemes which cover most but not necessarily all of such costs [4]. Even in HICs there are still significant "out of pocket expenses" incurred by families in many countries, for example in Canada [5,6]. In sharp contrast survival in low-middle income countries ranges between 10 and 30% [7,8].…”

Screening for psychosocial risk in pediatric cancer

“…They include factors related to the child (age, temperament, behavior [25,26]), the illness and treatment (diagnosis, type/intensity of treatment, days in hospital [27]); family structure (number of parents [25,28]), financial concerns (costs of care [29–32]), adjustment of family members (parental/sibling adjustment [15,33]), family functioning (cohesiveness, communication [34]), social support (connectedness vs. isolation [35–38]), and parental beliefs about child’s treatment and its impact on the family [39]. School factors (continuity in education, learning problems [40]), and aspects of the broader community and culture (language, culture and socioeconomic status), are also considerations [41].…”