Economic burden of skin cancer in Southern Iran: A cost-of-illness study

Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers around the world, which imposes a great economic burden on patients and societies. The present study aimed at determining the economic burden of skin cancer in patients referred to diagnostic and treatment centers in southern Iran in 2021.

This was a partial economic evaluation of the cost-of-illness type conducted from the societal perspective with the bottom-up and prevalence-based approaches. A total of 108 patients were included through the simple random sampling method, and a researcher-made data collection form was used to collect the required data. The data on direct medical costs were obtained by using the patient's medical and financial records, as well as the data on direct medical and indirect costs were collected by asking the patients or their companions on the phone.

The results showed that the annual cost of each skin cancer patient in the studied sample was 7699.76 USD in 2021. The indirect costs accounted for the largest share of costs (72.85 %), of which the costs of premature death were the highest. The costs of direct medical and direct non-medical costs were 19.77 % and 7.38 %, respectively, and the economic burden of the disease in the country was estimated at 569,550,508 USD in that year.

The economic burden of skin cancer in Iran is very high. Some suggestions to reduce its costs and economic burden include providing specialized services in high-incidence cities, virtual follow-ups, screening services, and sun safety interventions.