Estimation of Diagnosis and Treatment Costs of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Two-Year Observation

Abstract

BackgroundThere are insufficient data available on utilization and health care costs of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The cost data for different health conditions and services is a major gap in Iranian health system. So this study is the primary or first step towards filling this gap.ObjectivesThis study aims to estimate the diagnosis and treatment costs of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver.Patients and MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted on 528 subjects. The subjects had been diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver. All the subjects had been referred to the Tehran Fatty Liver Clinic, a clinic of the Baqiyatallah Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, in 2009 and they had been observed for 2 years to determine the frequency of health care utilization (physician visit, laboratory tests, medication and cost of sonography). The costs of diagnosis and treatment for each person were estimated in Purchasing Power Parity dollars (PPP$).ResultsThe average total cost was 5,043 PPP$ per person in the 2 years of observation. Majority of these 528 patients (87.9%) had a BMI ≥ 25 (kg/m2). Also, 33.9% were diagnosed with comorbid diseases such as Diabetes Mellitus (DM), Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), hypertension (HTN) and hypothyroidism (HYPO).ConclusionsThe results confirmed that the total costs for non-alcoholic fatty liver among the Iranian adult urban population alone exceeded 1 billion PPP$ per year. These costs can be saved or reduced by effective disease management and early prevention.

Economic and Quality-of-Life Implications of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

“…After following NAFLD patients (n = 528) for 2 years, the investigators calculated healthcare utilization costs based on the price lists approved in 2009-2011 by the Iranian Cabinet for the Public and Private Health Center and then converted the amount to PPP$. The authors reported an annual cost of PPP$1 billion as a result of having NAFLD and its associated comorbidities which was approximately PPP$5043 per individual patient with NAFLD [20]. Another study conducted in the West Suffolk area of the UK attempted to discern the costs of running their hepatology clinics.…”

“…There is a remarkable paucity of data addressing economic issues in patients with NAFLD [16,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. Our search identified six articles related to the economics of NAFLD (four for the general population, one in the C65 years old or medically disabled population) (Table 1) [20,23,[30][31][32][33].…”

“…Our search identified six articles related to the economics of NAFLD (four for the general population, one in the C65 years old or medically disabled population) (Table 1) [20,23,[30][31][32][33].…”

“…In the first study, investigators used Purchasing Power Parity dollars ([PPP$]-an economic technique used to determine the relative values of two different currencies taking into account the impact of exchange rates so one would be able to purchase the same item for the same price in another country) [20,21]. After following NAFLD patients (n = 528) for 2 years, the investigators calculated healthcare utilization costs based on the price lists approved in 2009-2011 by the Iranian Cabinet for the Public and Private Health Center and then converted the amount to PPP$.…”

Non-alcohol fatty liver disease in Asia: Prevention and planning

“…And also the other components of the MS, diabetes is more common among the Arab population than other regions of the world and is estimated to have increased rapidly in the region [81,91] . Approximately 50% of patients with T2DM also suffer from MS, whereas the risk of NAFLD in these patients is higher more than the other persons [94] .…”