The Economic Burden of Heart Failure Disease in the East Azerbaijan Province

Abstract

Abstract

Introduction: Heart failure (HF) imposes significant costs on patients, families and society. Quantifying the effects and dimensions of diseases in monetary terms is an essential issue in prioritizing and efficient allocation of resources. Methods: The current study is a prevalence-based and incidence-based disease costing study that estimates the costs from a social perspective. 502 patients with HF were selected from Madani Hospital in Tabriz from May to October 2022. Using the person-month measurement method, patients were followed up every two months for at least two and at most six months. Indirect costs were estimated using the human capital (HC) method. A bivariate regression model was used to evaluate the relationship between HF costs, clinical and demographic variables, and all analyzes were performed using Stata 16 and TreeAge Pro Healthcare software. Results: The total annual cost per patient was 261,409,854.9 Tomans (21,967.21 PPP). Direct costs are 54,262,049.09 Tomans (PPP 4,559.84), (21%) and indirect costs are 207,147,805.8 Tomans (PPP 17,470.38) (79%). The estimated average cost for a patient's lifetime is 2,173,961,178 Tomans, the highest and lowest share is related to early death (48%) and class III (2%) respectively. Gender, having basic insurance and disease class had a significant effect on the costs of the disease, but the variables of age and having an underlying disease did not have a significant effect. The model showed a good predictive performance. Conclusion: HF imposes a significant economic burden on patients in terms of direct and indirect costs. Indirect costs that show the effects of the disease on other economic sectors, the largest share is related to unpaid work. Considering the changes in HF costs among the evaluated variables, social and financial support systems should consider these changes to provide efficient support to HF patients. Key Word: Cost-of-illness, Economic burden, Heart failure, Markov models, Financial burden