Economic burden of chronic kidney disease in Korea using national sample cohort

Determining the cost of a disease is one of the approaches to estimate the burden of the disease. This study was aimed to estimate the socioeconomic burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) by CKD stages and treatment strategies in Korea.

This was a population-based study designed to estimate the cost of CKD according to CKD stages and treatment strategies from a societal perspective in Korea using multiple data sources. Costs of CKD stages III, IV, and V, hemodialysis (HD), and peritoneal dialysis (PD) were estimated with a prevalence-based method. Costs of kidney transplantation (KT) and post kidney transplantation were estimated using an incidence-based method. Costs consisted of direct medical cost, productivity loss cost due to hospitalization and outpatient visit, caregiver cost, and transportation cost.

Direct medical cost per year per patient with CKD stages III, IV, and V were 1205, 1963, and 8035 Euros, respectively. Direct medical cost per year per patient receiving HD and PD was 34,554 and 25,806 Euros, respectively. Medical cost per year per KT patient was 68,798 Euros. Direct medical cost which accounted for 70% of the total cost of CKD IV and 87% of the total cost of post KT. Cost associated with productivity loss was approximately 8-20%.

Our findings could be useful for evaluating cost-effectiveness of various CKD interventions including the screening strategy. This study also emphasizes a remarkable increase in the socioeconomic burden associated with the progression of CKD in patients.