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Costs of hepatitis C.

J P Leigh¹, C L Bowlus, B N Leistikow

¹Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care, Patient Services and Support Building, Suite 2500, University of California at Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA. jpleigh@epm.ucdavis.edu

Archives of Internal Medicine

|November 14, 2001

Summary

The estimated cost of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the United States in 1997 was $5.46 billion. This figure, primarily driven by indirect costs and chronic liver disease, is significantly higher than previous estimates.

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Area of Science:

Public Health
Health Economics
Epidemiology

Background:

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) poses a significant economic burden.
Previous cost estimates for HCV in the 1990s were limited and lacked methodological detail.

Purpose of the Study:

To provide a comprehensive estimation of the direct and indirect economic costs associated with Hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the United States for the year 1997.
To differentiate costs based on HCV's impact on chronic liver disease versus primary liver cancer.

Main Methods:

Utilized national datasets from governmental and private sources.
Employed the human capital method to categorize costs into direct (medical expenses) and indirect (lost earnings, home production) components.
Analyzed costs separately for HCV-related chronic liver disease and primary liver cancer.

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Main Results:

The total estimated cost of HCV in the U.S. in 1997 was $5.46 billion.
Indirect costs constituted the majority (67%) of the total economic burden, with direct costs accounting for 33%.
HCV leading to chronic liver disease represented approximately 92% of the total costs, while HCV-induced primary liver cancer accounted for the remaining 8%.

Conclusions:

The $5.46 billion estimate is considered conservative, excluding costs of pain, suffering, and informal care.
This study's detailed methodology yields an estimate nearly ten times higher than a prior $0.6 billion figure.
The economic impact of HCV in 1997 was comparable to that of asthma, highlighting its substantial societal cost.