Cancer Survivors Have Unmet Needs in the Management of Financial Toxicity

Due to the expenses that accrue from high medical co-payments during treatment, many cancer survivors experience financial toxicity (FT). In a new study published in Psycho-Oncology, researchers analyzed data on cancer survivors' experiences with FT and found that survivors have unmet needs in its management.¹

The data demonstrated that although cancer survivors experience FT, their awareness of it may be limited in certain respects due to the widespread impact of it on their lives. Survivors may cope with FT by making adjustments, but there remain factors that cause survivors to continue to have unmet needs.¹

The researchers carried out a review of qualitative studies published prior to August 31, 2019, using a meta‐aggregation approach. The studies used for the analysis were gathered from several different online databases.¹

In total, 6 synthesized findings were obtained using 14 studies that covered cancer patients' awareness of FT and cancer‐related expenditures, as well as the risk factors, impacts, coping strategies, and unmet needs of patients related to FT.¹

The researchers found that cancer survivors generally did not receive support on the management of financial information from health care facilities during their initial treatment, despite the fact that cancer-related FT has the potential to greatly impact survivors' health and quality of life.²

The researchers concluded that nurses and social workers can help survivors manage FT by increasing pre‐awareness of it, strengthening emotional empowerment, and providing personalized informative support.¹

REFERENCES

• Zhu Z, Xing W, Zhang X, et al. Cancer survivors' experiences with financial toxicity: A systematic review and meta‐synthesis of qualitative studies. Psycho-Oncology. 2020. doi: 10.1002/pon.5361.
• Cancer survivors' experiences with financial toxicity [news release]. Eurekalert; May 6, 2020. eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-05/w-cse050520.php. Accessed May 6, 2020.