Assessment of total economic burden of chronic hepatitis B (CHB)-related diseases in Beijing and Guangzhou, China.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the total annual cost due to Chronic Hepatitis B (CHB)-related diseases imposed on each patient and his/her family in Beijing and Guangzhou, China. METHODS Economic burden of CHB-related diseases (CHB, compensated cirrhosis, decompensated cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma) were examined. A retrospective cohort of 328 patients in Beijing and 271 in Guangzhou were identified to obtain their socioeconomic status, utilization and costs of treatment, and work loss days due to illness with a structured questionnaire. Costs of hospitalization were extracted from databases of two hospitals in Beijing and Guangzhou Social Insurance Information System, respectively. The outpatient expenditure per patient was measured through the rate of outpatient visits and average cost per visit reported by the patients, while the inpatient cost was calculated through annual rate of hospitalization and average expenditure for different types of hospitals. Self medication and direct nonmedical cost were also reported. The Human Capital Approach was employed to measure the work loss cost. RESULTS The total annual cost per patient for CHB, compensated cirrhosis, decompensated cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma were US$1636, US$2722, US$4611, and US$6615 in Beijing, and US$1452, US$2065, US$4290 and US$6054 in Guangzhou, respectively. CONCLUSION This study confirms that CHB-related diseases impose a substantial economic burden on patients, families, and the society in China urban areas. The study demonstrates increasing health-care costs related to disease progression and provides useful information on cost of treatment and work loss for different disease states, which can be further utilized in cost-effectiveness evaluation.