Table 3 •.
Sample Financial Hardship Data
| Characteristics | n (%) |
|---|---|
|
| |
| Household income, yearly, before taxes (n = 75)a | |
| <$20 000 (below or near poverty) | 26 (34.7) |
| $20 000–$39 999 (low income) | 15 (20.0) |
| $40 000–$99 999 (middle class) | 12 (16.0) |
| $100 000–$149 999 (upper middle class) | 5 (6.7) |
| >$150 000 (high income) | 5 (6.7) |
| Unknown | 2 (2.7) |
| Prefer not to answer | 10 (13.3) |
| How difficult is it to pay for your basic needs? (n = 74) | |
| Not at all difficult | 22 (28.2) |
| Somewhat difficult | 43 (55.1) |
| Extremely difficult | 9(11.5) |
| Have you been unable to cover your share of cost of cancer care? Yes (n = 74) | 27 (36.5) |
| Have you or anyone in your family had to borrow money or go into debt because of cancer? (n = 74) | |
| Yes | 21 (28.4) |
| No | 53 (71.6) |
| If yes to cancer debt, how much? (n = 21) | |
| <$10 000 | 11 (52.4) |
| $10 000–$24 999 | 6 (28.6) |
| $25 000–$49 999 | 2 (9.5) |
| $50 000–$74 999 | 2 (9.5) |
| Financial hardship, COST measure (n = 75), median (IQR), range | 15.0 (9.0–23.0), 0–44 |
| Mean (SD) = 16.8 (10.1) | |
| Since first cancer diagnosis, has any doctor or healthcare provider discussed with you your cost of OOP cancer care? (n = 72) | |
| Discussed it with me in detail | 3 (4.2) |
| Briefly discussed it with me | 15 (20.8) |
| Did not discuss it at all | 49 (68.1) |
| I don’t remember | 5 (6.9) |
Abbreviations: COST, Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity; IQR, interquartile range; OOP, out-of-pocket.
a
Income categorization is based on the rounded average US household size of 3, which was consistent with our sample mean household size of 2.6.