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Economic Burden of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis in India
Moksuda Khatun1, Debadyuti Datta2, Avijit Hazra3
1Department of Pediatrics, Medical College Kolkata, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Insights
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) significantly impacts families financially, with medication costs being the highest expense. Systemic onset JIA presents the greatest economic challenge for Indian families.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Rheumatology
- Health Economics
- Clinical Pediatrics
Background:
- Limited data exists on the economic burden of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in India.
- JIA affects children, necessitating comprehensive cost analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the direct and indirect economic burden of JIA in Indian pediatric patients.
- To identify cost drivers and variations across JIA subtypes.
Main Methods:
- Prospective observational study of 60 pediatric JIA patients (aged 1-12 years).
- Evaluation of direct healthcare costs (outpatient visits, tests, medications, hospitalization) and indirect costs (caregiver expenses, lost productivity).
Main Results:
- Medications (41.7%) and hospitalization (32.7%) constituted the largest direct costs.
- Systemic onset JIA incurred higher costs for blood tests and medications compared to oligoarticular JIA.
- Biologic agent use correlated with increased direct and indirect costs.
Conclusions:
- JIA imposes a substantial economic burden, primarily driven by medication expenses.
- Systemic onset JIA represents the most economically demanding subtype.
- Understanding these costs is crucial for resource allocation and patient support.
Background:
Published Indian studies on the economic burden of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) are lacking.
Methods:
A prospective observational study recruited pediatric patients aged from 1 to 12 years with JIA in the pediatric rheumatology clinic of a public sector tertiary care hospital. Direct healthcare costs and indirect costs for transportation, accommodation of the caregivers, and productivity loss for work absenteeism were assessed.
Results:
The proportions of direct annualized cost assessed in 60 patients (mean (SD) age 8.46 (2.24) year) spent on outpatient visits, blood tests, imaging investigations, other tests, medications and hospitalization were 0.85%, 12.8%, 9.0%, 2.9%, 41.7% and 32.7%, respectively. Direct healthcare costs for blood tests and medicine were lowest in oligoarticular JIA and highest in systemic onset JIA and (P=0.043 and 0.001 respectively). The direct and indirect costs were higher with the use of biologic agents (n=9) than in those without (n=51).
Conclusion:
JIA imposes considerable economic burden with the largest share attributable to medicines, and maximum in those with systemic onset JIA.
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