Value in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research
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Comparative Study
How do type 2 diabetes mellitus-related chronic complications impact direct medical cost in four major cities of urban China?
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the direct medical costs of type 2 diabetes mellitus with or without complications, and to determine the economic impact of complications on type 2 diabetic patients. ⋯ The high economic burden raised by diabetes and its complications challenges the Chinese health-care system. It implicates an urgent need of intervention to prevent the development of long-term complications among the diabetic population, especially on the development of complications in high-cost body system.
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Using inflammatory arthritis patients as an example, we investigate EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) profiles resulting in states worse than death (WTD), and the heath status of patients occupying these states. ⋯ Pain was the predominant factor in the WTD EQ-5D profiles occupied by arthritis patients. Patients occupying states WTD have poorer health-related quality of life than patients in low "better than death" states. Valuations of profiles vary according to how sets of preference weights for health profiles were developed. Further research should explore whether WTD valuations are supported by qualitative evidence and reflect the patient's health and experience of disease.
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To estimate the burden of diabetes mellitus (DM) and its complications in The Netherlands. ⋯ Drug treatment, hospitalizations, and cost attributed to diabetes mellitus have almost doubled between 2000 and 2004, but so did the "background" costs in the general population, perhaps because of preventive efforts.