ABSTRACT
Objective:
To identify direct and indirect non-medical costs in a population of patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) receiving treatment in Brazil.
Methods:
In this cross-sectional study, we obtained the costs through an interview with a population of patients with POAG at a glaucoma referral clinic in the city of Juiz de Fora - MG. In order to assess the direct non-medical costs, we investigated the following variables transportation expenses, lodging expenses, food and companion expenses for each visit. In the indirect costs analysis, we assessed the following variables: whether or not social benefits were received because of glaucoma (retirement or sickness benefit) and the annual value and loss of days worked by the patient and/or the companion. We calculated the mean annual values for the whole group and for each glaucoma stage.
Results:
Seventy-seven patients were included in this analysis (initial POAG: 26.0%, moderate POAG: 24.7% and advanced POAG 49.3%). The mean non-medical direct cost was (in reais): 587.47; 660.52 and 708.54 for the initial, moderate and advanced glaucomas, respectively. The mean indirect cost was: 20,156.75 (initial POAG); 26,988.16 (moderate POAG) and 27,263.82 (advanced POAG).
Conclusion:
We identified the direct and indirect non-medical costs related to POAG in Brazil. Indirect costs are higher than non-medical direct costs and both tend to increase with disease progression.
Keywords:
Primary open-angle glaucoma/therapy; Costs and costs analysis; Health care costs
