What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to evaluate how the socioeconomic crisis impacts cancer patient access to care in Lebanon.

January 23, 2026Open Access

The impact of socioeconomic crisis on cancer patient outcomes in Lebanon, 2018–2020

Key Points

This research aims to evaluate how the socioeconomic crisis impacts cancer patient access to care in Lebanon.
Launched a cancer Drug Access Program covering 80-90% of treatment costs.
Included longitudinal follow-up of 613 cancer patients across 50 hospitals.
Utilized the Multidimensional Poverty Measure (MPI) to assess poverty levels before and after the crisis.
Significant predictors of survival included treatment with palbociclib and lower MPI scores.
Higher governorate-level MPI was linked to increased mortality rates.
Notable shifts in survival rates were observed pre- and post-crisis onset.

Abstract

Aim: The goal of this study was to assess the impact of economic and social crisis on access to cancer care in Lebanon. Materials 95% confidence interval CI: 1.53–1.76, p < 0.0004), enrollment prior to 1 January 2019 (HR: 1.24; 95% CI: 1.07–1.44, p = 0.004), treatment at a hospital with fewer than five physicians (HR: 1.11; 95% CI: 1.00–1.23, p = 0.04), and lower 2019 MPI (HR: 1.69; 95% CI: 1.30–2.20) were significant predictive factors associated with survival. Higher governorate-level MPI was associated with increased mortality (adjusted rate ratio per 0.1-unit, HR: 2.88; 95% CI: 0.95–8.77, p = 0.06). Conclusion: Economic crises have negative impacts on health outcomes, and we identified a change in survival pre/post crisis onset. This study argues strongly for coordinated efforts to mitigate the negative effects of poverty on health.

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Cite This Study

Ladner et al. (Wed,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69730ef2c8125b09b0d1ecdd https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.57264/cer-2025-0099

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