ABSTRACT
Chemotherapy is an expensive treatment. High chemotherapy costs and direct non-medical costs have been a significant problem affecting the efficacy of the treatment. To solve this issue, in this study, we tried to explore both the amount and types of direct non-medical costs borne by patients with cervical cancer who underwent paclitaxel–carboplatin chemotherapy at Sanglah Hospital, Denpasar. We used the observational prospective method and conducted the study from January to August 2016. Data were collected through interviews with and diaries of 10 patients. The results indicated that the average direct non-medical cost for each patient was IDR 601,600.00. Direct non-medical costs paid by the patients were divided into 10 categories: transportation (5.37%), parking (0.19%), food and beverages (22.46%), communication (2.6%), administration (0.48%), religion-related expenses (0.76%), toiletries (0.65%), laundry (0.11%), tampons (1.39%), and accommodation (65.99%). Among these categories, three major direct non-medical costs were accommodation, food and beverages, and transportation.
