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

Abstract

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