Abstract
Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the cost of illness of COPD and the influence of severity of the disease over cost of illness and the quality of life. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in 105 patients aged > 40 years and Results: The mean cost spent by the patients with stage II COPD was Rs.3179.62 ± 99.01 per visit to the hospital, stage III was Rs.16414.79 ± 8365.79 and stage IV was Rs.44077.16 ± 15686.21 per visit. As the severity of COPD increased both direct and indirect costs increased and the quality of life of the patient decreased significantly (P=0.000). Out of the total costs, highest was spent on direct medical costs (81.2%). Direct nonmedical costs contributed to 10.6% and indirect costs to 8%. The drivers of the total cost were found to be hospitalizations (36.2%) and length of stay. Conclusion: Since acute exacerbations are the main cause of hospitalization among COPD patients, strategies to prevent severe exacerbations could be very cost effective and may improve the quality of life. Key words: Cost of illness, COPD, Medical costs, Quality of life, Smoking cessation.
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