Hospital Spending for Cancers in Hunan, China during 2017 and 2019

Abstract

Objectives To describe the hospitalization spending for cancers in Hunan Province, China, and to investigate the hospitalization cost across diverse cancer classifications. Methods We conducted a retrospective study based on the hospitalization admission data from 2017 to 2019 in Hunan Province. We retrieved information on age, sex, diagnosis, number of comorbidities, level of hospitalization, hospital location, hospital costs, length of stay, and type of payer for eligible participants. Factors for cost (log-transformed) were investigated through multiple linear regression. Results A total of 903,377 patients with cancer were hospitalized in Hunan Province during 2017–2019, with a total cost of US$2,546.5 million, and 64% of the cost was covered by medical insurance. The top five cancers in terms of cost were lung ($300.3 million), colorectum ($234.6 million), liver ($126.5 million), lip, oral cavity & pharynx ($102.3 million), and stomach ($99.0 million) cancers in men, were breast ($176.0 million), colorectum ($156.2 million), cervix ($112.3 million), lung ($112.2 million), and thyroid ($56.0 million) cancers in women, respectively. Site of cancer, sex, age, year of hospitalization, number of comorbidities, length of stay, hospital level, and hospital location were significantly associated with the per-capita log-transformed cost. Conclusion The economic burden of cancer was heavy in Hunan, and lung, colorectal, breast, liver, and stomach cancers accounted for half of the total cost. Site of cancer, sex, age, comorbidity, level, and location of hospital were factors for the per-capita cost.