Patient-reported healthcare utilisation and economic burden among people with colorectal cancer in Kuwait: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background Patient-reported economic consequences of colorectal cancer (CRC), particularly productivity losses and caregiving costs, are insufficiently documented in Kuwait. This study described healthcare use and quantified direct expenditure, indirect economic costs and their combined burden among patients receiving tertiary oncology care. Methods A cross-sectional telephone survey of 100 patients with CRC was conducted at the Kuwait Cancer Control Center from 6 June through December 2022. The EQ-5D-5L and Health Care Utilisation questionnaires captured healthcare encounters, expenditure, productivity and caregiving. Direct costs comprised reported outpatient and inpatient expenditure; indirect costs included caregiver costs and time losses valued at KD 33.56 per day using a 2022 GDP-per-capita proxy. Skewed monetary outcomes were summarised for records with positive values using response-specific denominators. Results Outpatient care in the preceding six months was reported by 44/99 respondents (44.4%); government hospitals were named by 39/43 outpatient facility respondents (90.7%) and 24/32 admission facility respondents (75.0%). Among positive-value records, total direct expenditure averaged KD 266.28 (SD 393.42; n = 48), with a median of KD 155.00 (IQR 47.50–310.00). Total indirect cost averaged KD 1,714.29 (SD 2,441.86; n = 67), with a median of KD 1,074.97 (IQR 301.05–2,020.32). The combined patient-level cost averaged KD 1,636.40 (SD 2,475.83; n = 78), with a median of KD 1,003.40 (IQR 253.75–2,062.50). Caregiver costs were positive in 39 records (median KD 900.00). Denominators differed across cost domains, and stored zero amounts could not reliably be distinguished from non-applicability or missing costs. Conclusions This single-centre, non-representative sample indicates reliance on public-sector services among patients reporting relevant encounters, alongside direct expenditures and substantial valued productivity and caregiving costs. The cost summaries are neither national burden estimates nor complete annual per-patient costs and do not establish that indirect costs exceed direct costs for individual patients. Better linked clinical, employment, healthcare-expenditure and caregiver data are needed to inform equitable CRC service planning.