Economic burden of malignant neoplasms in Shandong province

ObjectiveTo evaluate the economic burden of malignant neoplasms in Shandong province in order to provide scientific evidence for policy-making.MethodsThe main source for this study were the data from the third sampling survey of death cause in 2006 and cancer prevalence survey in 2007 in Shandong provice.The direct medical cost was calculated based on the survey data.The indirect cost due to mortlity and morbidity were estimated with human capital approach based on the data of disability-adjusted life years derived from the two surveys and gross domestic product(GDP) data.The total economic burden was the sum of direct medical cost and indirect cost.The uncertainty analysis was conducted according to the methodology in global burden of disease study.ResultsThe total cost of cancer in Shandong province in 2006 estimated was 18 057 million Yuan RMB(95% confidence interval:16 817-19 393 million),which accounted for 0.83% of the total GDP.The direct medical cost,indirect mortality cost and indirect morbidity cost accounted for 17.28%, 78.53%,and 4.20% of total economic burden of malignant neoplasms,respectively.Liver,lung and stomach cancer were the top three tumors with heavier economic burden,with accounted for more than one half(57.83%)of the total economic burden of all cancers.The uncertainty of total burden estimated was around±7%,which mainly derived from the uncertainty of indirect economic burden.ConclusionThe influence of cancers on social economy is dominated by the loss of productivity,especially by the productivity loss due to premature death.Liver,lung and stomach cancer are the major cancers for disease control and prevention in Shandong province.