Table II.
Characteristics of Children With Cancer Covered by the Fund for Protection Against Catastrophic Expenditures
| West (n = 874) (%) | Northwest (n = 507) (%) | Central (n = 1,206) (%) | East (n = 272) (%) | South-southeast (n = 962) (%) | Total (n = 3,821), n (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female sex | 45.4 | 41.0 | 43.4 | 48.2 | 45.4 | 1,698 (44.4) |
| Mother schooling* | ||||||
| Illiterate | 6.6 | 8.3 | 6.0 | 2.9 | 13.5 | 310 (8.1) |
| Primary school | 35.8 | 18.5 | 32.7 | 19.9 | 40.0 | 1,240 (32.5) |
| Secondary school | 20.4 | 16.0 | 30.4 | 31.6 | 17.3 | 878 (23.0) |
| Preparatory school | 7.1 | 9.7 | 13.5 | 10.3 | 6.8 | 367 (9.6) |
| High school | 2.5 | 4.5 | 3.8 | 6.3 | 1.9 | 126 (3.3) |
| Missing date | 27.6 | 43.0 | 13.6 | 29.0 | 20.6 | 900 (23.6) |
| Previous disease* | 1.5 | 3.0 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 5.0 | 110 (2.9) |
| Age of diagnosis* | ||||||
| <1 year | 6.1 | 7.7 | 7.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 237 (6.2) |
| 1–4 years | 32.8 | 33.5 | 38.1 | 34.2 | 34.3 | 1,340 (35.1) |
| 5–9 years | 28.5 | 23.5 | 25.0 | 24.6 | 28.8 | 1,014 (26.5) |
| 10–14 years | 22.4 | 23.3 | 21.7 | 20.6 | 23.0 | 853 (22.3) |
| 15–19 years | 10.2 | 12.0 | 7.5 | 16.5 | 9.5 | 377 (9.9) |
| Type of cancer* | ||||||
| Acute lymphoblastic leukemia | 48.3 | 41.8 | 46.2 | 36.4 | 50.3 | 1,774 (46.4) |
| Acute myeloid leukemia | 8.9 | 7.1 | 6.9 | 4.4 | 7.8 | 284 (7.4) |
| Hodgkin lymphoma | 8.7 | 6.3 | 5.4 | 4.4 | 7.0 | 252 (6.6) |
| Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | 5.1 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 6.3 | 4.8 | 179 (4.7) |
| Malignant bone tumors | 4.9 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 11.0 | 6.5 | 216 (5.7) |
| Central nervous system tumors | 8.5 | 11.8 | 7.7 | 9.9 | 6.2 | 314 (8.2) |
| Renal tumors | 3.3 | 6.1 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 4.2 | 165 (4.3) |
| Retinoblastoma | 2.6 | 1.8 | 7.0 | 4.8 | 2.8 | 157 (4.1) |
| Other | 9.6 | 16 | 13.8 | 17.6 | 10.4 | 480 (12.6) |
| High-risk* | 66.0 | 58.2 | 57.5 | 47.8 | 56.5 | 2,239 (58.6) |
| West (n = 866) | Northwest (n = 500) | Central (n = 1,204) | East (n = 272) | South-southeast (n = 962) | Total (n = 3,804) | |
| Adverse events (AE)* | 45.1 | 40.2 | 52.5 | 16.1 | 45.7 | 1,707 (44.9) |
| AE by grading scale (indicators of severity) | ||||||
| Adverse events grade 2 and 3* | 30.7 | 33.9 | 31.8 | 13.2 | 33.5 | 1,181 (30.9) |
| Adverse events grade 4 and 5* | 14.1 | 5.7 | 20.6 | 2.9 | 12.2 | 526 (13.8) |
| AE by system organ class groupings | ||||||
| Infections and infestations* | 17.5 | 21.5 | 22.6 | 7.0 | 17.5 | 721 (18.9) |
| Blood and lymphatic system disorders* | 14.2 | 8.1 | 28.7 | 2.6 | 17.3 | 684 (18.0) |
| Gastrointestinal disorders* | 9.3 | 2.4 | 11.4 | 1.5 | 9.1 | 323 (8.5) |
| Nervous system disorders* | 2.3 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 4.8 | 113 (3.0) |
| Respiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders* | 2.6 | 1.0 | 3.2 | 1.5 | 2.9 | 99 (2.6) |
| Metabolism and nutrition disorders* | 1.7 | 1.0 | 3.6 | 0.0 | 2.9 | 91 (2.4) |
| Renal and urinary disorders | 1.5 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 51 (1.3) |
| Others* | 10.4 | 11.6 | 9.0 | 3.7 | 11.4 | 379 (9.9) |
| West (n = 874) | Northwest (n = 507) | Central (n = 1,206) | East (n = 272) | South-southeast (n = 962) | Total (n = 3,821) | |
| Health status* | ||||||
| Alive | 72.9 | 67.9 | 73.4 | 62.1 | 58.8 | 2,601 (68.1) |
| Dead | 22.2 | 25.6 | 19.9 | 17.3 | 30.7 | 906 (23.7) |
| Treatment abandonment | 2.1 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 20.2 | 9.3 | 237 (6.2) |
| Missing date | 2.9 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 78 (2.0) |
n, number of children; statistical analysis comprised comparisons among regions, P-value was calculated using χ2-test.
*
P < 0.05. Previous disease included congenital anomalies or hereditary diseases (n = 58), anemia (n = 43), chronic infectious diseases like tuberculosis and HIV (n = 9).