The indirect cost of cancer in Tehran, preliminary report

Background:the cancer institute has recently investigating on economic aspects of cancer. this paper reports the preliminary results which aim to estimate the indirect cost of cancer in patients.methods: to estimate the indirect cost of cancer, a questionnaire was developed which included questions about demographic data, histological type of cancer, and the direct cost' and expenses that patients incur during last year of their present visit or since the first time of diagnosis of cancer (if it was less than one year). patients were interviewed by a trained social worker, when they referred to outpatient clinic of the cancer institute.data about transportation costs, expenses and indirect costs gathered from patients.results: sixty patients were recruited. the annual average of indirect costs of breast and bladder cancers estimated $11027 and $16935 per patient, respectively. the average number of referring to medical care facility was 8.66 for breast cancer and 5.8 for bladder cancel:conclusion: our study estimated expenses which indirectly related to disease for cancer patients. further studies warranted to accurately estimate the indirect and direct costs of cancer.