Costs of illness for patients with venous thromboembolism in China

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), a condition that includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) is associated with major morbidity and mortality and causes huge economic burden. The purpose of this study was to evaluate direct and indirect costs of patients with VTE in China, producing an average cost per patient per year. A cost-of-illness analyses was performed. The economic data was collected from an observational retrospective study. We recruited 154 patients diagnosed with VTE in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou between October 2012 and December2012. Patients or their carers completed a questionnaire about resource utilization and absenteeism from work in the past year by an interview. Direct medical costs included outpatient visit, hospitalization,, ambulatory, drug, diagnostic tests, and physiotherapy costs. Indirect costs were estimated using a human capital approach. All costs referred to 2011. Among 154 patients, DVT accounted for 85.7%,51.95% were female and the mean age was 61.5±12.4. 96.8% patients have at least one kind of health insurance. From the societal perspective, total costs per patient over 1 year amounted to Chinese Yuan (CNY) 21484 (median: CNY14039, IQR: CNY6714-CNY32036). The direct medical costs were CNY15899 accounting for 74% of the total. The informal care costs were CNY3623 accounting for 16.9% of the total. And the indirect costs were CNY1678 accounting for 7.8%. The economic burden of VTE in China is considerable. The primary burden on patients was due to the direct medical costs.