Financial burden of hepatitis B-related diseases and factors influencing the costs in Shenzhen, China

• Published in: Zhōnghuá liúxíngbìng zázhì Vol. 31; no. 12; p. 1340
• Main Authors: Liang, Sen, Zhang, Shun-xiang, Ma, Qi-shan, Xiao, He-wei, Lü, Qiu-ying, Xie, Xu, Mei, Shu-jiang, Hu, Dong-sheng, Zhou, Bo-ping, Li, Bing, Chen, Jing-fang, Cui, Fu-qiang, Wang, Fu-zhen, Liang, Xiao-feng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Chinese
• Published: China 01.12.2010
• Subjects: Adult; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - economics; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - epidemiology; China - epidemiology; Cost of Illness; Female; Health Care Costs - statistics & numerical data; Hepatitis B - economics; Hepatitis B - epidemiology; Hepatitis B, Chronic - economics; Hepatitis B, Chronic - epidemiology; Humans; Liver Cirrhosis - economics; Liver Cirrhosis - epidemiology; Liver Neoplasms - economics; Liver Neoplasms - epidemiology; Male; Middle Aged; Retrospective Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; China
• ISSN: 0254-6450

To investigate the direct, indirect and intangible costs due to hepatitis B-related diseases and to explore main factors associated with the costs in Shenzhen. Cluster sampling for cases collected consecutively during the study period was administrated. Subjects were selected from eligible hepatitis B-related patients. By pre-trained professional investigators, health economics-related information was collected, using a structured questionnaire. Hospitalization expenses were obtained through hospital records after the patients were discharged from hospital. Total economic burden of hepatitis B-related patients would involve direct, indirect and intangible costs. Direct costs were further divided into direct medical costs and direct nonmedical costs. Human Capital Approach was employed to measure the indirect costs both on patients and the caregivers in 1-year time span. Willing to pay method was used to estimate the intangible costs. Multiple linear stepwise regression models were conducted to determine the f