Economic outcomes among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Vietnamese patients: Approach considerations from a...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with major burden on economic effects. The objective of this study was to explore cost categories caused by COPD in Vietnam and the relationships between those costs and some demographic factors.

A cross-sectional study was carried out among 359 COPD patients who visited Dong Nai General Hospital in Vietnam in 2018. Patients were classified according to codes from the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10) (J44: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Demographic information and clinical status of the data were illustrated by descriptive statistics. With the bootstrapping method, cost data are represented as an arithmetic mean cost (Bootstrap 95% CI).

The sample of this study consisted of 359 patients, of which 280 (78.0%) were outpatient department (OPD) patients compared to the 79 (22%) inpatient department (IPD) patients. Total costs per visit were estimated at $87.10 (95% CI $76.20-$99.50) and $372.10 (95% CI $320.10-$430.00) for OPD and IPD, respectively. The costs had an increasing trend with the number of comorbidities, the severity, and the duration of COPD. The annual costs were higher in men than in women, but there was a "low burden" group of OPD stage IV patients. Costs per visit of the "low burden" group were more correlated with demographic categories than those of the "high burden" group.

The results of this perspective study illustrate that Vietnamese COPD is associated with a significant economic burden. The cost of this disease per case is shown to be proportional to the severity and comorbidities of COPD; additionally, "high burden" groups have double the total costs of COPD.