Speaker: Barbara Helena Zobec Logar, MD, PhD, Radiation Oncologist, Institute of Oncology Ljubljana
Barbara Helena Zobec Logar, MD, PhD: Hello, my name is Helena Barbara Zobec Logar. I work at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana and in the 2024 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology I will present a poster on financial toxicity in cancer patients in Slovenia. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of financial toxicity in cancer patients in our country. Slovenia is a European country with a publicly funded health care system. Compulsory health insurance provides coverage for a comprehensive range of services including: emergency care, malignant disease, rehabilitation and treatment, hospital and social care, medication and medical equipment and compensation for sick leave of more than 30 days. The majority of patients in Slovenia have both compulsory and supplementary health insurance to avoid out of pocket payments to assess financial toxicity. We use the COST FACT-L version two questionnaire and we found in conclusion that the majority of patients in Slovenia have no or mild financial toxicity. That breast case cancer patients are more affected by financial toxicity than other patients. Actively treated patients and younger patients are also more affected with financial toxicity as well as working patients and patients in rural settings and those who are religious patients. But we found no difference between the different genders. Education didn't prove to affect the the degree of financial toxicity and also recurrence and the type of treatment did not have significant influence on financial toxicity. So, if you are interested in our results, please go to our poster. Thank you.
