Pharmacoeconomic evaluation of hemodialysis patients: A study of cost of illness

Objective: The objective of the study is to analyze the health-care costs of the hemodialysis (HD) patients in a charitable hospital. Subjects and Methods: A prospective observational study was carried out in an outpatient HD unit of nephrology department in a charitable hospital for a period of 8 months from August 2016 to March 2017. The collected direct medical and nonmedical cost data were analyzed for the median interquartile (Q3–Q1) cost incurred in treating the HD patients. Results: A total of 39 outpatients were included in the study. Of 39 patients, majority of the HD patients were males (66.2%) followed by females (33.8%). Most of the patients underwent HD for twice a week (89.7%) followed by thrice a week (10.3%). The median direct medical costs (85,999.2 Indian rupee [INR]) were found to be higher than direct nonmedical costs (14,437.1 INR). Conclusions: The study revealed that the total median direct cost was found to be uppermost for the age group of 41–60 years (1,12,438.8 INR) when compared to all other age groups, and it was also observed that the total median direct cost for males (1,07,522.4 INR) was higher than females (1,03,170.7 INR). The factors such as type of comorbidities, age, and number of HD per week may affect the cost of illness.