METHODS: A systematic literature review on economic studies reporting PSC-associated data was performed in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus/Elsevier and Cochrane databases, Google Scholar and gray literature ranging from January 2000 to August 2016. Results for post-stroke interventions (treatment and care) were systematically extracted and summarized in evidence tables reporting study characteristics and economic outcomes. Economic results were converted to 2015 US Dollars, and the total cost of PSC per patient month (PM) was calculated.
RESULTS: We included 42 studies. Overall PSC costs (inpatient/outpatient) were highest in the USA ($4850/PM) and lowest in Australia ($752/PM). Studies assessing only outpatient care reported the highest cost in the United Kingdom ($883/PM), and the lowest in Malaysia ($192/PM). Fifteen different segments of specific services utilization were described, in which rehabilitation and nursing care were identified as the major contributors.
CONCLUSION: The highest PSC costs were observed in the USA, with rehabilitation services being the main cost driver. Due to diversity in reporting, it was not possible to conduct a detailed cost analysis addressing different segments of services. Further approaches should benefit from the advantages of administrative and claims data, focusing on inpatient/outpatient PSC cost and its predictors, assuring appropriate resource allocation.
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated direct costs attributed to rehabilitation treatment of poliomyelitis among Pakistani patients and reported its duration along with the socioeconomic status of poliomyelitis survivors.
CONCLUSION: The cost of poliomyelitis rehabilitation in Pakistan is high; it has an economic effect on the lives of patients and their families. Despite good education, polio survivors in Pakistan appear to have low socioeconomic status, lower chances of employment and marriage, as well as fewer children. Further research is recommended to explore the burden of disease on society, i.e., indirect costs and suffering.
METHODS: The model used the best available data inputs, with uncertainty considered using probabilistic sensitivity analysis. We additionally assessed the impact of neonatal jaundice (NNJ) on the economic benefits of increasing exclusive breastfeeding rates.
RESULTS: During 2010-2019, five admissions for GE and three admissions for LRTI per 1000 births would have been prevented in the first year of life if the exclusive breastfeeding rate at 4 months increased from the actual levels (~15-30%) to 50%, resulting in annual healthcare cost savings of USD1.05 (95% CI 1.03-1.07) million/year. The cost saving would reach USD1.89 (95% CI 1.86-1.92) million/year if the exclusive breastfeeding rate at 4 months increase to 70%. However, if higher NNJ admissions during 7-90 days related to more exclusive breastfeeding are considered, the cost saving would reduce by 60%.
CONCLUSION: Our findings can guide policymakers in allocating budget and resources for breastfeeding promotion in Hong Kong. The prevention of unnecessary NNJ admissions would maximise the economic benefits of exclusive breastfeeding at 4 months.
DESIGN: A cross-sectional study design and top-down costing approach, analysing Malaysian diagnosis-related group (DRG) data for AMR patients admitted to MoH hospitals from 2017 to 2020.
SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1190 cases were identified using International Statistical Classification of Diseases-10 version 2010 codes for AMR pathogens.
OUTCOME MEASURES: The study aims to estimate direct healthcare costs for treating AMR patients. Costs per admission were calculated based on each patient's length of stay (LOS). A binary logistic regression model identified cost determinants, with significant factors (p<0.05) further analysed using a multivariate multiple logistic regression. ORs with 95% CIs were determined, and treatment costs were categorised as above or below the annual national base rate.
RESULTS: Findings showed that costs are influenced by the volume of cases identified through DRG codes and LOS, which averaged between 21.7 and 36.4 days. Median admission costs for AMR patients ranged from RM12 476.28 (IQR RM 15 655.93) to RM19 295.11 (IQR RM20 200.28). Both LOS and total costs increased annually, from RM3 711 046.10 in 2017 to RM9 700 249.08 in 2019. Patients over 56 years old and those with severity levels II and III were more likely exceeding the national base rate.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings, explaining 9.3% of the variance in the regression model, can inform policies to reduce the economic burden of AMR and improve patient outcomes, highlighting the need for a comprehensive strategy to address this global health threat.
METHODS: This is an economic evaluation. We constructed an individual-based Monte Carlo method to simulate with probabilistic sensitivity analysis the development of breast cancer over a woman's lifetime in a hypothetical birth cohort aged 20 years in 2018 (n = 33500) using best available data mainly from government statistics. We predicted the cases of, and deaths due to breast cancer in the base case (with the actual breastfeeding rate in 2018) and two hypothetical optimal scenarios (90% exclusive breastfeeding for six months or cumulative exclusive/partial breastfeeding for at least 12 months). The healthcare cost-savings, the number of deaths averted and the increase in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to the prevention of breast cancer attributed to a higher breastfeeding rate were then deduced, assuming an annual discount rate of 3%.
RESULTS: Increasing the proportion of parous women breastfeeding exclusively for six months from 26 to 90% averted 266 (95% CI 259, 273) or ~ 10% of all-stage breast cancer cases, 18 deaths (95% CI 17, 19) and 399 DALYs (95% CI 381, 416), over the lifetime of each annual cohort of women in Hong Kong. The lifetime medical costs that could be saved would be ~ USD3 million using 2018 prices. However cost-savings were 5-times less in another scenario where the cumulative partial/exclusive breastfeeding for 12 months in parous women is increased to 90% due to its weaker protection against breast cancer compared to exclusive breastfeeding.
CONCLUSIONS: Promoting and protecting breastfeeding could lead to cost-savings for treating breast cancer in Hong Kong. Our analysis can inform the annual healthcare budget that could be allocated to promote exclusive breastfeeding for six months.
STUDY DESIGN: Cost-effectiveness analysis.
SETTING: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, and Sri Lanka participated in the study.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Costs were obtained from experts in each country with known costs and published data, with estimation when necessary. A disability-adjusted life-years model was applied with 3% discounting and 10-year length of analysis. A sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of device cost, professional salaries, annual number of implants, and probability of device failure. Cost-effectiveness was determined with the World Health Organization standard of cost-effectiveness ratio per gross domestic product (CER/GDP) per capita <3.
RESULTS: Deaf education was cost-effective in all countries except Nepal (CER/GDP, 3.59). CI was cost-effective in all countries except Nepal (CER/GDP, 6.38) and Pakistan (CER/GDP, 3.14)-the latter of which reached borderline cost-effectiveness in the sensitivity analysis (minimum, maximum: 2.94, 3.39).
CONCLUSION: Deaf education and CI are largely cost-effective in participating Asian countries. Variation in CI maintenance and education-related costs may contribute to the range of cost-effectiveness ratios observed in this study.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the National Heart Institute of Malaysia involving 503 patients who were hospitalized during the year prior to the survey.
RESULTS: The mean annual out-of-pocket health spending for IHD was MYR3045 (at the time US$761). Almost 16% (79/503) suffered from catastrophic health spending (out-of-pocket health spending ≥40% of household non-food expenditures), 29.2% (147/503) were unable to pay for medical bills, 25.0% (126/503) withdrew savings to help meet living expenses, 16.5% (83/503) reduced their monthly food consumption, 12.5% (63/503) were unable to pay utility bills and 9.0% (45/503) borrowed money to help meet living expenses.
CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the economic impact of IHD on patients in Malaysia was considerable and the prospect of economic hardship likely to persist over the years due to the long-standing nature of IHD. The findings highlight the need to evaluate the present health financing system in Malaysia and to expand its safety net coverage for vulnerable patients.