Direct economic burden of hepatitis B virus related diseases: evidence from Shandong, China

Author:

Lu Jingjing,Xu Aiqiang,Wang Jian,Zhang Li,Song Lizhi,Li Renpeng,Zhang Shunxiang,Zhuang Guihua,Lu Mingshan

Abstract

Abstract Background Although the expenses of liver cirrhosis are covered by a critical illness fund under the current health insurance program in China, the economic burden associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) related diseases is not well addressed. In order to provide evidence to address the economic disease burden of HBV, we conducted a survey to investigate the direct economic burden of acute and chronic hepatitis B, cirrhosis and liver cancer caused by HBV-related disease. Methods From April 2010 to November 2010, we conducted a survey of inpatients with HBV-related diseases and who were hospitalized for seven or more days in one of the seven tertiary and six secondary hospitals in Shandong, China. Patients were recorded consecutively within a three-to-five month time period from each sampled hospital; an in-person survey was conducted to collect demographic and socio-economic information, as well as direct medical and nonmedical expenses during the last month and last year prior to the current hospitalization. Direct medical costs included total outpatient, inpatient, and self-treatment expenditures; direct nonmedical costs included spending on nutritional supplements, transportation, and nursing. Direct medical costs during the current hospitalization were also obtained from the hospital financial database. The direct economic cost was calculated as the sum of direct medical and nonmedical costs. Our results call for the importance of implementing clinical guideline, improving system accountability, and helping secondary and smaller hospitals to improve efficiency. This has important policy implication for the on-going hospital reform in China. Results Our data based on inpatients with HBV-related diseases suggested that the direct cost in US dollars for acute hepatitis B, severe hepatitis B, chronic hepatitis B, compensated cirrhosis, decompensated cirrhosis and primary liver cancer was $2954, $10834, $4552, $7400.28, $6936 and $10635, respectively. These costs ranged from 30.72% (for acute hepatitis B) to 297.85% (for primary liver cancer) of the average annual household income in our sample. Even for patients with health insurance, direct out-of-pocket cost of all HBV-related diseases except acute hepatitis B exceeded 40.00% of the patient’s disposable household income, making it a catastrophic expenditure for the household. Conclusion Hepatitis B imposes considerable economic burden on a family. Our findings will help health policy makers’ understanding of the magnitude of the economic burden of HBV-related diseases in China. Evidence from our study also contributes to our understanding of potential benefits to society from allocating more resources to preventing and treating HBV infection, as well as increasing insurance coverage in China. These findings have important policy implications for health care reform efforts currently underway in China focusing on how to reduce the burden of catastrophic disease for its citizens.

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Subject

Health Policy

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3