Direct medical cost of nephropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes

Although it is known in the literature that the medical cost due to the complications of diabetes mellitus (DM) is high, data about the effect of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) on medical cost are limited.

The aim of this study is to investigate the cost of hospitalized patients with nephropathy due to type 2 DM, the parameters closely related to this cost and the effect of diabetic nephropathy stage on medical hospitalization costs.

The study group consisted of 141 patients with DKD, and the control group consisted of 111 patients with DM without chronic complications in this retrospective study. The demographic characteristics, duration of diabetes and HbA1c values of the patients were recorded at the time of their first hospitalization, medical hospitalization costs, and the length of stay in hospital were recorded for a year from the date of hospitalization. The total medical hospitalization costs of the patients were divided into two groups as cost of medications and supplies and service cost. Patients with DKD were compared according to their dialysis status and nephropathy stages.

While the average cost of a patient with DKD was 603 (283-1267) United States Dollars (USD), the average cost of a DM patient without complications was 222 (141-292) USD (p < 0.05). It was observed that the patients with DKD had higher medical hospitalization costs and length of stay in hospital compared to patients with diabetes without complications. In addition, it was observed that the medical hospitalization costs and the length of stay in hospital were significantly higher in patients undergoing dialysis than patients who did not undergo dialysis (p < 0.05 for each). An independent relation was found between average cost and duration of diabetes in patients with DKD (p < 0.05). No relation was found between diabetic nephropathy stage and medical hospitalization costs (p > 0.05 for each).

The estimated cost of treatment of DKD is higher than patients with uncomplicated diabetes. If preventive measures are not taken for DKD, it will continue to be a heavy economic burden.