Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
Tech

Now, a tool to predict financial pain from cancer

Darpan News Desk IANS, 22 Jun, 2014 12:43 PM
  • Now, a tool to predict financial pain from cancer

Along with distress that comes with cancer diagnosis and the discomfort of treatment, more patients now have to deal with "financial toxicity", the expense, anxiety and loss of confidence confronting those who face large, unpredictable costs.


Researchers have now developed a tool to measure a patient's risk for, and ability to tolerate, financial stress that comes with cancer. 

Named COST (Comprehensive Score for financial Toxicity), the tool comprises 11 questions, assembled and refined from conversations with more than 150 patients with advanced cancer.

"A few physicians discuss this increasingly significant side effect with their patients," said Jonas de Souza, head-and-neck cancer specialist at University of Chicago Department of Medicine in the US. 

"We believe that a thoughtful, concise tool that could help predict a patient's risk for financial toxicity might open the lines of communication. This gives us a way to launch that discussion," de Souza added.

Explaining the utility of the tool, he noted, "If patients know what to expect, they may want their physicians to consider less costly medications." 

The findings appeared in the journal Cancer.

MORE Tech ARTICLES

Twitter selfies to reveal your mood

Twitter selfies to reveal your mood
What if selfies posted on Twitter can reveal our mood - whether people who live in “happier” cities tend to post more selfies and whether they smile more while taking self-portraits?

Twitter selfies to reveal your mood

Need a house? Print it in hours

Need a house? Print it in hours
In what could make the dream of owning a house a reality for a large section of people in developing countries, a Chinese company has devised a method of 3D printing a house.

Need a house? Print it in hours

This lift to zip you to 95th floor in 43 seconds!

This lift to zip you to 95th floor in 43 seconds!
Forget the world's tallest skyscraper Burj Khalifa in Dubai. This elevator in China will take you to the 95th floor in flat 43 seconds!

This lift to zip you to 95th floor in 43 seconds!

Great! Now an app to protect your credit card from hacking

Great! Now an app to protect your credit card from hacking
Bad news for credit card hackers. Here comes a 'remote control' app that can help you turn your credit cards on and off with the click of a button, and control when, where, and how they are used.

Great! Now an app to protect your credit card from hacking

Male Twitter users biased towards women: Study

Male Twitter users biased towards women: Study
Gender bias is real on Twitter. According to research, twitter conversations among men feature fewer mentions of women.

Male Twitter users biased towards women: Study

Video games of the future to adapt to players' mood

Video games of the future to adapt to players' mood
A team of engineers at Stanford University has developed a hand-held controller that allows video games to adapt to a player's level of engagement.

Video games of the future to adapt to players' mood