Objectives Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is one of the most important outcome measures for patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate HRQoL and related factors in Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Methods A total of 420 COVID-19 patients who had been discharged from hospital were selected using a systematic sampling. The EuroQol 5-dimensional-5 levels (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire along with medical records of the patients were used to gather the data. The t test and analysis of variance were employed to test the difference between mean EQ-5D-5L scores, and the BetaMix model was used to investigate factors associated with EQ-5D-5L scores. Results The mean score for the patients who completed the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire ( n = 409) was 0.6125. The EQ-5D-5L scores were significantly higher in males, patients with younger age, those with a low level of education, the employed, patients who worked in uncrowded workplaces, patients without diabetes, and those who were not admitted to intensive care unit. The BetaMix model showed that gender, age, education, employment status, having diabetes, heart failure, and admission to the intensive care unit were significant independent predictors of the EQ-5D-5L index values. Conclusion The mean score for EQ-5D-5L in COVID-19 patients was low in this study. Some of the factors, especially aging and having diabetes, should be considered in the aftercare of patients to improve their HRQoL.

Purpose Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the major causes of mortalities worldwide. This study was conducted to evaluate the direct and indirect costs of coronary artery disease (CAD) in Iran. Patients and Methods This is a prevalence-based cost-of-illness (COI) study that estimates the direct and indirect costs of CAD. The study conducted over a six-month period from April to September in 2017. Patients were recruited from Madani hospital in Tabriz, Iran. A total of 379 patients were investigated from societal perspective. Direct costs were estimated using the bottom-up costing approach and indirect costs were estimated using the Human Capital (HC) approach. A generalized linear model of regression was used to explore the relation between total cost and socio-demographic variables. The total annual mean cost was compared to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita which was reported in the form of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) index. To deal with uncertainty, one-way sensitivity analysis was performed. Results Total costs per patient in one year were estimated to be IRR 63452290.17 ($PPP 7736.19) at a 95% confidence interval (58191511.73–68713068.60), the biggest part of which is related to direct medical costs with IRR 33884019.53 per year ($PPP 4131.18) (54%). Direct non-medical costs were estimated IRR 1655936.68 ($PPP 201.89) per patient (2%) and indirect costs were estimated IRR 27912333.97 per patient ($PPP 3403.11) (44%), which 62% of indirect costs is related to patients’ work absenteeism. Conclusion This study estimates the direct (56%) and indirect (44%) costs associated with CAD. The study explores the essential drivers of the costs and provides the magnitude of the burden in terms of the share of GDP. The outcomes can be used in priority setting, in particular for cost benefit analysis, and adopting new policies regarding insurance coverage and equity issues.

Our results demonstrated that algorithms developed based on OLS Models 1 and 2 are the best for predicted EQ-5D-5L and SF-6D values respectively.

Background: Catastrophic health expenditures (CHE) are of concern to policy makers and can prevent individuals accessing effective health care services. The exposure of households to CHE is one of the indices used to evaluate and address the level of financial risk protection in health systems, which is a key priority in the global health policy agenda and an indicator of progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goal for Universal Health Coverage. This study aims to assess the CHE at population and disease levels and its influencing factors in Iran. Methods: This study is a systematic review and meta-analysis. The following keywords and their Persian equivalents were used for the review:

Introduction Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a significant health problem with an increasing incidence worldwide. Screening is one of the ways, in which cases and deaths of CRC can be prevented. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the different CRC screening techniques and to specify the efficient technique from a cost-effectiveness perspective. Methods The economic studies of CRC screening in general populations (average risk), aged 50 years and above were reviewed. Two reviewers independently reviewed the titles, abstracts, and full-texts of the studies in five databases: Cochrane, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed. The disagreements between reviewers were resolved through the authors’ consensus. The main outcome measures in this systematic review were the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of screening versus no-screening and then in comparison with other screening techniques. The ICER is defined by the difference in cost between two possible interventions, divided by the difference in their effect. Results Eight studies were identified and retained for the final analysis. In this study, when screening techniques were compared to no-screening, all CRC screening techniques showed to be cost-effective. The lowest ICER calculated was $PPP −16265/quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) (the negative ICERs were between purchasing power parity in US dollar ($PPP) −16265/QALY to $PPP −1988/QALY, whereas the positive ICERs were between $PPP 1257/QALY to $PPP 55987/QALY). For studies comparing various screening techniques, there was great heterogeneity in terms of the structures of the analyses, leading to diverse conclusions about their incremental cost-effectiveness. Conclusion All CRC screening techniques were cost-effective, compared with the no-screening methods. The cost-effectiveness of the various screening techniques mainly was dependent on the context-specific parameters and highly affected by the framework of the cost-effectiveness analysis. In order to make the studies comparable, it is important to adopt a reference-based methodology for economic evaluation studies.