Cancer imposes a substantial economic burden due to treatment costs, supportive care, and loss of productivity. Besides all the affecting factors, major concerns lead to significant financial burdens of cancer treatment, bringing unwanted huge unbearable direct and indirect treatment costs. The aim was to explore the nature of additional mobility/travel required for accessing health care for cancer patients and also to assess financial burden due to additional mobility/travel costs for cancer treatment. This study employed unit-level cross-sectional data from the 75th round (2017-18) of India's National Sample Survey (NSS). The primary analysis commenced with descriptive and bivariate analyses to explore mean health spending and out-of-pocket expenses. Subsequently, multivariable logistic regression models were utilized to estimate the associations between catastrophic health expenditure, distress financing, and the treatment location. The findings highlight distinct healthcare utilization patterns: inpatient treatments predominantly occur within the same district (50.4%), followed by a different district (38.8%), and a smaller share in other states (10.8%). Outpatients largely receive treatment in the same district (65.5%), followed by a different district (26.8%), and around 8% percent in other states. Urban areas show higher inpatient visits within the same district (41.8%) and different districts (33.5%). Total expenditure is higher for outpatients, especially in other states. Notably, out-of-pocket expenses are higher for patients seeking treatment in other states. Distress financing is more common among inpatients (20.6%) and combined inpatient/outpatient cases (23.9%), while outpatients exhibit a lower rate (6.8%). The findings collectively suggest the importance of developing local healthcare infrastructures to reduce the additional mobility of cancer patients.

Authors:
Abhishek Gupta, International Institute for Population Sciences, India
Mahadev Brahmankar, International Institute for Population Sciences, India
Mohit Kumar Pandey, International Institute for Population Sciences, India

About the Presenter(s)
Mohit Pandey currently pursuing a PhD from the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Thursday Schedule

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