Objectives

Advances in cancer treatments have allowed improved outcomes, even with advanced disease. However, this progress has resulted in a new toxic effect termed ‘financial toxicity.’ Financial toxicity severely impacts quality of life, even among those insured. The purpose of this article is to gain better understanding of this relatively new concept to better care for our patients, presented primarily from a US perspective.

Data Sources

These include medical databases (PubMed, Scopus) and researcher experience.

Conclusion

Financial toxicity is highly prevalent in patients with advanced cancer, and it is associated with multiple worsened outcomes. Those with advancing cancer are at accumulating risk of financial toxicity, exacerbated by other known risk factors. The effects of financial toxicity are debilitating, resulting in deleterious physical, psychological, spiritual, and social effects drastically affecting quality of life. Coping strategies such as taking less than prescribed therapy, delays seeking care, and poorly managed comorbid conditions potentially cause increased symptoms and worse outcomes.

Implications for Nursing Practice

Careful assessments by multidisciplinary health care teams could allow early intervention, timely referral to health professionals including social work or financial navigators, and provision of emotional support. Further studies are needed to explore solutions on an institutional and national level that can guide health policy and the creation of practice models that can reduce the harm of financial toxicity.

中文翻译：

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晚期癌症患者的财务毒性：癌症和必要治疗的新的、致命的和处理不当的影响

目标

癌症治疗的进步已经改善了结果，即使是晚期疾病。然而，这一进展导致了一种新的毒性效应，称为“经济毒性”。财务毒性严重影响生活质量，即使是被保险人也是如此。本文的目的是更好地理解这个相对较新的概念，以更好地照顾我们的患者，主要从美国的角度提出。

数据源

其中包括医学数据库（PubMed、Scopus）和研究人员的经验。

结论

财务毒性在晚期癌症患者中非常普遍，并且与多种恶化的结果相关。那些患有癌症的人面临着不断累积的财务毒性风险，并因其他已知的风险因素而加剧。财务毒性的影响使人衰弱，导致有害的身体、心理、精神和社会影响，严重影响生活质量。应对策略，例如采取少于规定的治疗、延迟寻求护理以及管理不善的合并症，可能会导致症状加重和结果更糟。

对护理实践的影响

多学科医疗保健团队的仔细评估可以允许早期干预、及时转诊给包括社会工作或财务导航员在内的卫生专业人员，并提供情感支持。需要进一步研究以在机构和国家层面探索解决方案，以指导卫生政策和创建可以减少财务毒性危害的实践模型。