The Socio‐economic Cost of Diabetic Complications in France

Abstract

The costs to the community of diabetes and diabetic complications are large and the allocation of resources to prevention, diagnosis, and health care is controversial. The direct economic costs of diabetes are for the most part medical charges, whereas the indirect costs encompass loss of working days and a range of effects on the patient's quality of life. In the present study the monetary cost is estimated for a sample of 109 patients. Data on current state of health, socio-economic characteristics and aspects of social and professional life were measured and expressed as the average medical annual cost of a patient in 1984. Medical expenditure categories included hospitalization, home visits, laboratory tests, pharmaceutical expenditure, and other medical and paramedical services. The average medical cost in 1984 was 12 178 French francs (FFr) for Type 1 diabetic patients and FFr 6908 for Type 2 diabetic patients. Omitting sick-leave expense, the average cost of diabetic patients was close to the French national average of medical costs (or consumption) (FFr 7711 (Type 1), FFr 5892 (Type 2) vs FFr 6462 (national average]. Hospitalization constituted 33.9% (Type 1) and 40.1% (Type 2) of costs in France. Hospitalization for diabetic complications was not evaluated in this study and is poorly documented in France.