OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the economic burden of COPD in Malaysia, including direct costs for the management of COPD and indirect costs due to productivity losses for COPD patients.

METHODOLOGY: Overall, 150 patients with an established diagnosis of COPD were followed-up for a period of 1 year from August 2018 to August 2019. An activity-based costing, 'bottom-up' approach was used to calculate direct costs, while indirect costs of patients were assessed using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire.

RESULTS: The mean annual per-patient direct cost for the management of COPD was calculated as US$506.92. The mean annual costs per patient in the management phase, emergency department visits, and hospital admissions were reported as US$395.65, US$86.4, and US$297.79, respectively; 31.66% of COPD patients visited the emergency department and 42.47% of COPD patients were admitted to the hospital due to exacerbation. The annual mean indirect cost per patient was calculated as US$1699.76. Productivity losses at the workplace were reported as 31.87% and activity limitations were reported as 17.42%.

METHODOLOGY: We assessed the impact of a pharmacist intervention on direct medicine costs in COPD patients (medicine costs and pharmacist time) in a randomised controlled study involving an intervention and control group, conducted at a tertiary care teaching hospital in India.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the economic impact of AML and determine the major cost-driving factors for its treatment in the EU.

METHODS: This systematic review is in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. A systematic search was conducted using PubMed, Embase, ScienceDirect, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar databases to identify relevant studies on the economic impact of AML in various countries of the EU, published before April 15, 2024. Original studies investigating direct costs including expenses for treatment and healthcare services, or resource utilization for AML management were included. The systematic review excluded commentaries, editorials, and pharmacoeconomic modeling studies. Two reviewers independently performed data extraction and quality assessment, and the third reviewer resolved disagreements. We employed the Allison Larg Cost-of-Illness Studies evaluation checklist to assess the risk of bias. The mean cost per patient for induction, consolidation, and transplantation was calculated, and the results were converted into 2024 Euros.

RESULTS: Twenty-eight studies met our inclusion criteria, with the sample size of AML patients ranging from 12 to 39,568. The calculated per-patient direct costs of induction chemotherapy in Spain, France, Netherlands, Germany, and Italy were €92,378, €77,844, €61,643, €46,113, and €20,254, respectively. The mean per-patient direct cost of consolidation chemotherapy in the Netherlands and Germany was €42,137, and €32,220, respectively. The mean per-patient direct costs of transplantation in Sweden, Austria, France, Netherlands, and Spain were €192,628, €188,453, €132,352, €122,760, and €47,968, respectively. The cost-driving factors associated with AML treatment were inpatient hospitalization and medication costs.

CONCLUSION: AML seems to incur substantial direct economic expenses. Reducing the days of hospitalization can significantly decrease the economic burden of AML in the European Union. Moreover, there is a necessity for studies that comprehensively evaluate the economic implications, particularly concerning total and indirect costs.