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Abstract Details

A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Medical Crowdfunding Requests for Neurological Patients and Caregivers in Canada
Health Care Disparities
P1 - Poster Session 1 (9:00 AM-5:00 PM)
217
 In this study, we analyzed healthcare funding requests posted to a popular, publicly accessible crowdfunding platform to determine the unmet needs of Canadians with neurological conditions.
Despite universal coverage for inpatient medical services, Canadian patients with neurological conditions accrue substantial health-related expenses related to uninsured therapies, travel for specialized care, loss of income, and equipment costs.
A cross-sectional, descriptive analysis was performed on all publicly accessible funding requests in the “Medical” section of the Canadian GoFundMe.com website. An algorithm was developed using the python programming language to systematically extract all publicly available posts. Posts were reviewed for demographic and funding data including sex, age category, location, and amount of funds requested and obtained. Posts were subsequently categorized by underlying diagnosis and reasons for seeking financial assistance.

Of 880 included posts, 89 (10.1%)  were related to patients with non-malignant neurological conditions. Of note, 227 (28.9%) patients with non-neurologic primary diagnoses reported neurologic complications of their illness. At time of data extraction the neurological subgroup had raised $1.98 million CAD for a median of $17,715 CAD per request. The most common categories of neurological disease were stroke (39.1%), neuromuscular (20.7%), and inflammatory (10.9%).

The most common reason for request among neurological patients was equipment/device costs, referenced in 34% of posts, compared to 9.9% of posts among non-neurologic patients (p<0.0001). Travel and relocation expenses were referenced in 30% of posts in the neurological group, and 30% of posts referenced loss of income. One quarter of posts in the neurological category requested funds for rehabilitation and 13% referenced long-term care or home care expenses.

This study highlights financial barriers to neurological care in the Canadian health system and identifies potential targets for policy and resource allocation aimed at reducing the burden on neurological patients and their caregivers.
Authors/Disclosures
Erin Balcom, MD
PRESENTER
Dr. Balcom has nothing to disclose.
No disclosure on file