TY - JOUR
T1 - Demographic Analysis of Financial Hardships Faced by Brain Tumor Survivors
AU - Desai, Ansh
AU - Jella, Tarun K.
AU - Cwalina, Thomas B.
AU - Wright, Christina Huang
AU - Wright, James
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2022/2
Y1 - 2022/2
N2 - Objective: Quantitative analysis of the financial hardship faced by patients with brain tumors is lacking. The present study sought to conduct a longitudinal analysis of responses to the National Health Interview Survey by patients diagnosed with brain tumors and characterize the impact of demographic factors on financial hardship indices. Methods: National Health Interview Survey respondents between 1997 and 2018 who reported previous diagnosis with cancer of the brain and who responded to 4 survey questions that assessed financial stress were included. Sociodemographic exposures included age, ethnicity/race, marriage status, insurance status, and degree of highest educational attainment. Results: Educational attainment, marital status, and insurance status were the most significant risk factors for temporary or indefinite delays to necessary medical care. Those with only a high-school diploma had 9.6 times higher odds (adjusted odds ratio, 9.68; 95% confidence interval, 2.96–31.70; P < 0.001) of reporting that, in the past 12 months, one of their family members had to limit their medical care in an effort to save money. Similarly, patients with brain tumors who were not married had 3.94 times greater odds (adjusted odds ratio, 3.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.49–10.44; P = 0.009) of avoiding necessary medical care because of an inability to afford it. Conclusions: Given this variation in self-reported financial burden, demographics clearly have an impact on a patient's holistic experience after a brain cancer diagnosis. Therefore, by using the comparisons in this study, we hope that medical institutions and neurosurgical societies can more accurately predict which patients are most susceptible to significant financial stress and distribute resources accordingly.
AB - Objective: Quantitative analysis of the financial hardship faced by patients with brain tumors is lacking. The present study sought to conduct a longitudinal analysis of responses to the National Health Interview Survey by patients diagnosed with brain tumors and characterize the impact of demographic factors on financial hardship indices. Methods: National Health Interview Survey respondents between 1997 and 2018 who reported previous diagnosis with cancer of the brain and who responded to 4 survey questions that assessed financial stress were included. Sociodemographic exposures included age, ethnicity/race, marriage status, insurance status, and degree of highest educational attainment. Results: Educational attainment, marital status, and insurance status were the most significant risk factors for temporary or indefinite delays to necessary medical care. Those with only a high-school diploma had 9.6 times higher odds (adjusted odds ratio, 9.68; 95% confidence interval, 2.96–31.70; P < 0.001) of reporting that, in the past 12 months, one of their family members had to limit their medical care in an effort to save money. Similarly, patients with brain tumors who were not married had 3.94 times greater odds (adjusted odds ratio, 3.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.49–10.44; P = 0.009) of avoiding necessary medical care because of an inability to afford it. Conclusions: Given this variation in self-reported financial burden, demographics clearly have an impact on a patient's holistic experience after a brain cancer diagnosis. Therefore, by using the comparisons in this study, we hope that medical institutions and neurosurgical societies can more accurately predict which patients are most susceptible to significant financial stress and distribute resources accordingly.
KW - Brain tumor
KW - Financial hardship
KW - Insurance
KW - NHIS
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85119087115&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.wneu.2021.10.124
DO - 10.1016/j.wneu.2021.10.124
M3 - Article
C2 - 34687933
AN - SCOPUS:85119087115
SN - 1878-8750
VL - 158
SP - e111-e121
JO - World Neurosurgery
JF - World Neurosurgery
ER -