Table 3.
Characteristics of selected healthcare economic burden studies.
| Study | Perspective | Region, year of pricing | Study design | Sample source | Sample size | Main findings/Cost categories and costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Che et al. (25) | Patient | Yunnan, 2013 | Cross-sectional study | Hospital-based | 131 (of 940 HBV infected patients) | (1) Hospital costs accounted for the majority of total direct medical expenses. (2) Median estimated monthly household income: 4,000 CNY (IQR: 1,950, 9,750); Individual incomes: 2,000 CNY (IQR: 900, 3,000). (3) Insurance scheme [n (%)]: • No: 2 (1.5); UEM: 48 (36.6); URM: 27 (20.6); NRCM: 54 (41.2). (4) Estimated average annual direct costs for HCC patients was 33,044 CNY. (5) The percent of decrease in total direct expense (Total direct costs/household income per year median) after reimbursement was 36.1% in HCC group (33,044–17,273, 61.9–38.8%). (6) After reimbursement it could save 24% of patients not undergoing catastrophic health expenditure health in HCC groups. |
| Hu et al. (26) | Patient | Beijing and Guangzhou | Retrospective cohort Study | Hospital-based | 596 CHB-related disease | (1) The total annual cost per patient for HCC was 6,615 USD in Beijing and 6,054 USD in Guangzhou. (2) Beijing: direct economic burden: 6,084 USD, indirect Economic Burden: 531 USD. (3) Guangzhou: direct economic burden: 5,472 USD, indirect Economic Burden: 582 USD. |
| Lang et al. (27) | Payer | Taiwan, 2002 | Retrospective case-control study | Hospital-based | 2873 | (1) Group 1 (survived <1 year): 895 patients, average medical care costs: 206,573 TWD (6,259.7 USD, 2002), year 2002 value). (2) Group 2 (survived ≥1 year but died before the end of 2002): 735 patients, 237,032 TWD (7,182.7 USD, 2002). (3) Group 3 (still surviving by the end of 2002): 858 patients for initial phase, 140,403 TWD (4,254.6 USD, 2002); 1011 cases for continuous phase, 8,687 TWD (263.2 USD, 2002) per month. (4) For the average HCC patient, the 10-year lifetime cost was 418,554 TWD (12,683.4 USD, 2002). |
| Lei et al. (28) | Patient | 13 Provinces, 2014 | Cross-sectional study | Hospital-based | 1196 (of 2223 liver cancer) | (1) HCC is the major pathological type of liver cancer. (2) Medical expenditure of HCC was 50,937 CNY, Non-medical expenditure was 4,592 CNY. Overall expenditure was 55,529 CNY. (3) Economic impact of overall expenditure on patients' family: • Expenditure of newly diagnosed course/Annual expenditure of illness of HCC: 48,150 CNY; • Self-reported predicted reimbursement ratio of HCC: 48.1%; • Out-of-pocket expenditure of HCC: 25,896 CNY; • Previous year household income: 56,536 CNY. (4) Self-reported degree of economic pressure of HCC: • Not at all (5.2%); • Somewhat but manageable (15.2%); • Heavy (30.5%); • Overwhelmed (49.1%). |
| Nguang et al. (29) | Payer | Taiwan, 2016 | Retrospective cohort study | Hospital-based | 5522 | (1) Total healthcare expenditure (insurance payments) for treating HCC patients was approximately 92 million USD (92,269,551), including 53.4 million USD (58%) for hospital care and 38.7 million USD (42%) for outpatient and emergency department services. (2) Underlying comorbid conditions, liver transplants, hepatectomy, and trans arterial chemoembolization were associated with increased total cost, with liver transplants having the greatest impact over time. |
| Ran et al. (30) | Patient | Beijing, 2018 | Cross-sectional study | Hospital-based | 4174 hospitalizations | (1) Total hospitalization expenses: 158,320,500 CNY, average hospitalization expenses per time: 29,896.82 CNY (IQR:14,306.36, 50,567.79). (2) HCC was the second most expensive disease in this large tertiary hospital. |
UEM, the basic health insurance for urban employees medical scheme; URM, the basic health insurance for urban residents medical scheme; NRCM, the new rural cooperative medical scheme.