Exploring financial toxicity and its impact on health-related quality of life of cancer patients.

Aim: This study evaluates financial toxicity (FT), its risk factors and assesses its relationship with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in cancer patients in Bahawalpur, Pakistan.

Method: This was a cross-sectional study of cancer patients undergoing treatment in two public hospitals. It assessed FT with a Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity (COST) and HRQOL with a functional assessment of cancer therapy: general (FACT-G). A questionnaire was also utilised to collect and analyse data. We conducted a linear regression analysis to identify risk factors for FT and Pearson correlation to evaluate the association between FT and HRQOL.

Results: The study included 336 patients between March and June 2024. The majority of the patients were female and from rural areas. The mean COST score was 7.21 (2-12), and the mean FACT-G score was 28.60 (22-37). There was a strong positive relationship between the COST and FACT-G scores, indicated by a correlation coefficient of 0.84 (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the study observed that the COST score was a reliable predictor of the FACT-G score. Multivariate linear regression analysis found cancer type (β =  - 0.346; 95% CI, - 0.588 to - 0.103; P < 0.05), residence (β =  - 0.494; 95% CI, - 1.005 to 0.017; P < 0.05), and distance between home and healthcare facility (β =  - 0.340; 95% CI, - 0.607 to - 0.073; P < 0.05) as risk factors of the FT.

Conclusions: Our findings indicate high FT, underscoring the critical need for strategies to reduce the growing FT among cancer patients in Pakistan. Moreover, the significant relationship between FT and HRQOL needs further studies to explore potential causal factors.