Social and economic burden of breast cancer in the North East region of Bulgaria

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies among women and significantly worsens physical, mental and social functioning. The aim is to evaluate the social and economic burden of treatment strategies for breast cancer in the North East region of Bulgaria.

Areas covered: A retrospective, observational, population-based study among patients with breast cancer was performed. Patient characteristics, treatment patterns, and costs were assessed during a four-year period (2016–2019). Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were calculated to estimate the social burden.

Results: Approximately 99% of patients (n = 1,373) were female and the mean age at diagnosis was 60.6 years. The total economic burden of breast cancer during the time of the study was estimated to be 21,076,809.12 BGN where the direct costs were equal to 19,634,509.67 BGN and the total indirect costs due to premature death amounted to 1,442,299.45 BGN. Total DALYs were 110.56 for all patients corresponding to 1,898,340.80 BGN.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates the significant social and economic burden of breast cancer as further, more comprehensive regional and national-based studies related to the total economic burden of breast cancer are required.

KEYWORDS:

• Breast cancer
• costs
• cost of illness
• DALY
• treatment
• Bulgaria

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewers disclosure

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial relationships or otherwise to disclose.

Author contribution

The authors provided equally valuable contribution to the manuscript. AT and MK carried out the research and drafted the manuscript. AT and SM entered the patients’ data in a database. MK, AT, and SM performed the statistical analysis. All three authors participated in the study design and reviewed the paper. All co-authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.