Financial toxicity among cancer patients, survivors, and their families in the United Kingdom: a scoping review

Background The aim of this scoping review was to identify key research gaps and priorities in order to advance policy and practice for people living with cancer in the UK. Methods The review adhered to PRISMA guidelines for scoping review. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar on July 16, 2022. There were no restrictions in terms of study design and publication time; grey literature was included. The key words, ‘financial’ or ‘economic’, were combined with each of the following words ‘hardship/stress/burden/distress/strain/toxicity/catastrophe/consequence/impact.’ Results 29/629 studies/reports published during 1982-2022 were eligible to be included in the review. No study conducted a comprehensive inquiry and reported all aspects of FT or used a validated measure of FT. The most three commonly reported outcomes related to financial hardship were financial well-being (24/29), benefit/welfare (17/29), and mental health status (16/29). Conclusions It is evident that FT is experienced by UK cancer patients/survivors and that the issue is under-researched. There is an urgent need for further research including rigorous studies which contribute to a comprehensive understanding about the nature and extent of FT, disparities in experience, the impacts of FT on outcomes, and potential solutions to alleviate FT and related problems. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement This study did not receive any funding ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present work are contained in the manuscript