Abstract
BackgroundType 2 diabetes is a growing health challenge in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the disease exerts significant pressure on the healthcare system. The aim of this study was to assess the annual costs and understand the drivers of those costs in the country.MethodsA sample of 628 patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes were randomly selected from primary healthcare diabetes clinics, and the direct medical and indirect costs due to type 2 diabetes were analysed for a one-year period. The study used patients’ medical records, interviews and standardised frequency questionnaires to obtain data on demographic and clinical characteristics, complication status, treatment profile, healthcare resource utilisation and absenteeism due to diabetes. The indirect costs were estimated by using the human capital approach. The direct medical and indirect costs attributable to type 2 diabetes were extrapolated to the type 2 diabetes population in Bahrain.ResultsIn 2015, the total direct medical cost of type 2 diabetes was 104.7 million Bahraini dinars (BHD), or 277.9 million US dollars (USD), and the average unit cost per person with type 2 diabetes (1162 BHD, or 3084 USD) was more than three times higher than for a person without the condition (372 BHD, or 987 USD). The healthcare costs for patients with both micro- and macrovascular complications were more than three times higher than for patients without complications. Thus, 9% of the patients consumed 21% of the treatment costs due to complications. Complications often lead to hospital admission, and 20% of the patients consumed almost 60% of the healthcare costs attributable to type 2 diabetes due to hospital admissions. The indirect cost due to absenteeism was 1.23 million BHD (3.26 million USD).ConclusionType 2 diabetes exerts significant pressure on Bahrain’s healthcare system – primarily due to costly diabetes-related complications. It is therefore important to optimise the management and control of type 2 diabetes, thereby reducing the risk of disabling and expensive complications.
Highlights
Type 2 diabetes is a growing health challenge in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the disease exerts significant pressure on the healthcare system
The results showed that diabetes-related complications were common: almost half of the participants (43.4%) had at least one complication, 38.5% had microvascular complications, 14.2% had macrovascular complications, 9.2% had both micro- and macrovascular complications, and 34.2% had either micro- or macrovascular complications
These findings concur with results from similar studies in other countries that show that diabetes-related complications drive diabetes-related healthcare costs [12, 13, 15, 35,36,37]
Summary
Type 2 diabetes is a growing health challenge in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the disease exerts significant pressure on the healthcare system. Diabetes is a serious disease and a growing public health challenge in every part of the world [1]. There are two primary forms of diabetes, which are more often than not grouped together, but the causes and costs of which are different. Type 1 diabetes is an Salman et al BMC Health Services Research (2019) 19:939 increases [9]. The healthcare costs of diabetes are substantial and include expenditure on resources used for treating the condition, such as outpatient consultations, diagnostic testing, medications, emergency visits and inpatient procedures and care [11]. 727 billion USD, or 12% of direct healthcare expenditures, was spent on diabetes in 2017, and this figure is projected to reach 776 billion USD by 2045 [2]
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