Abstract
Economic cost of diabetes comprises of two components, viz. the direct cost and indirect cost. Doctor consultation fees, transportation cost, cost of blood and urine tests, and cost of medication constitute the direct cost. Short term morbidity and permanent disability due to diabetes result in inability to work, which accounts for the indirect cost. The objective of the study was to measure the economic cost of diabetic patients in Sainthamaruthu Divisional Secretariat Area of Ampara district in Sri Lanka. The research area of this study was Sainthamaruthu Township in Ampara district, where the burden of diabetes is higher than in other places. This study used primary and secondary data, both qualitative and quantitative. Primary data was collected through a questionnaire. Sample was selected through the stratified sampling method from 243 patients. 100 questionnaires were distributed through the random sampling method. For the data analysis this study used cross-sectional descriptive method. The direct cost and indirect cost of diabetes was estimated by cost of illness method. Analysis was performed through SPSS and Excel. This survey found that the monthly average direct cost per patient in Sainthamaruthu Divisional Secretariat Area was US $19. A breakdown gives monthly average doctor consultation fees of US $5.15, monthly average transportation cost of US $1.12, monthly average cost for urine test US $0.47, monthly average cost for blood test US $1.32, and monthly average medication cost of US $10.93. To these must be added monthly average indirect cost of US $68.94. This is made up of US $49.20 lost per patient per month for permanent disability and US $19.74 lost per patient per month for short term morbidity. Therefore, the monthly average economic cost amounted to US $87.93 per patient. At the same time, a higher level of economic cost is borne by the male and lower cost borne by the income group that earned between US $175 and US $350. 54 percent of patients depend on their families to meet their diabetes related expenditure. So the major part of the cost of diabetes care is imposed on the families of diabetic patients in the study area. And it just proves to be a big economic burden on them.
Highlights
The term Diabetes refers to a group of metabolic diseases in which the blood sugar levels remain high over a prolonged period
The selected research area was Sainthamaruthu Divisional Secretariat. This survey found that 18 percent of the people having diabetes were in the age group between 35-45 years, 36 percent were from 46 to 55 years, 40 percent were from 56-65 years, and 6 percent were from 66 to 75 years, respectively
If we examine the prevalence of diabetes according to income levels, those families earning up to US $60 per month included 75 percent, families earning between US $60 and US $175 included 17 percent, and those earning between US $175 and US $350 included 8 percent (Computed Data, 2016)
Summary
The term Diabetes refers to a group of metabolic diseases in which the blood sugar levels remain high over a prolonged period. Symptoms of high blood sugar include frequent urination, increased thirst, and increased hunger. Incidence of Diabetes is currently increasing all over the world and the cost of managing the disease has to be borne by the patients for their entire life (Breckenridge, Page & Richard, 1998). That is the reason why diabetes brings economic hardships to the patients and their families while being a burden on the national economy. Based on this, the economic cost of diabetes is assessed in terms of its direct cost and indirect cost. The direct cost of diabetes includes medication cost, doctor consultation fees, travelling cost, cost for urine test and cost for blood test. Production losses due to sick leave, early retirement and premature death due to diabetes are categorized as the indirect cost of diabetes (Cobden, 2011)
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