Impact of the economic crisis and drug shortage on Lebanese cancer patients’ care

Table 1 Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients, n (%)

Sociodemographic variables	Total, n = 182
Age, mean ± SD	61.18 ± 13.32
Sex
Male	79 (43.41)
Female	103 (56.59)
Nationality
Lebanese	173 (95.05)
Other	9 (4.95)
Place of residency
City	122 (67.03)
Outside of the city	60 (32.97)
Work status
Worker	63 (34.62)
Non-worker	119 (63.38)
Educational level
Illiterate	16 (8.79)
Less than high school	11 (6.04)
High school	25 (13.74)
College	35 (19.23)
University	95 (52.20)
Status
Married	142 (78.02)
Single	29 (15.93)
Divorced	1 (0.55)
Widowed	10 (5.50)

Table 2 Characteristics of the patients’ households, n (%)

Characteristics	Total, n = 182
Total household income/month in USD
< 300	78 (42.86)
Between 300 and 1000	56 (30.77)
> 1000	48 (26.37)
Number of people in household	3.00 ± 1.54
Household members-excluding the patient-suffering from serious chronic disease
Yes	62 (34.07)
No	120 (65.93)

USD: United States Dollar.

Table 3 Reasons for treatment disruption, n (%)

Characteristics	Value, n = 182
Stopped or interrupted any drugs including chemotherapy
Yes	58 (31.87)
Reason:
Shortage	41 (70.69)
Price/coverage	8 (13.79)
COVID-19	1 (1.72)
Other	8 (13.79)
No	124 (68.13)
Changed any of their medications
Yes	81 (44.51)
Reason:
Shortage	74 (91.36)
Price	3 (3.70)
Coverage	4 (4.94)
No	101 (55.49)
Had a third-party payer
Yes	160 (87.91)
Syndicate	4 (2.50)
Insurance	82 (51.25)
CNSS	52 (32.50)
CFE	4 (2.50)
Ministry of Public Health	13 (8.13)
Army	5 (3.12)
No	22 (12.09)
Source of medication payment
Out-of-pocket	87 (69.60)
Donations	14 (11.20)
Family	9 (7.20)
Primary healthcare centers	14 (11.20)
Ministry of Public Health	1 (0.80)

CFE: Caisse Française de l’Etranger; CNSS: Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale or National Social Security Fund; COVID-19: Coronavirus disease-19.

Table 4 Financial coverage of the patient population, n (%)

Characteristics	Total, n = 182
Changing third-party payer due to coverage problems
Yes	11 (6.04)
No	171 (93.96)
Reporting financial difficulties due to health care spending
Yes	144 (79.12)
No	38 (20.88)
Self-medication instead of seeking medical treatment due to financial difficulties
Yes	42 (23.08)
No	140 (76.92)
Cancelled a treatment, surgery, or any procedure because of its cost during the last year
Yes	25 (13.74)1
No	157 (86.26)
Suffering from other chronic diseases necessitating chronic treatments
Yes	94 (51.65)
No	88 (48.35)
Any problems accessing specific treatments for other chronic diseases
Yes	76 (80.85)
No	18 (19.15)

¹Twelve out of 25 canceled at least one course of chemotherapy.