The Economic Burden of Patients with Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathic Pain Based on a Real-World Study in China

Currently, there is no specific characterization of the economic burden of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathic Pain (DPNP) in most Asian countries. The purpose of this study was to understand the economic burden of DPNP in China from a healthcare system perspective.

The analysis was conducted using the SuValue^® database, a large electronic medical record (EMR) database which covers 182 hospitals across 22 provinces in China. A 12-month baseline and 12-month follow-up period were used to compare healthcare resource utilization and costs before and after the initial diagnosis of DPNP.

A total of 7373 adult patients with DPNP were identified and 4220 (57.24%) patients were treated. Analgesics (n=2044, 48.44%) and anti-inflammatory drugs (n=1990, 47.16%) were the most used treatments. Among DPNP treated patients, the mean (SD) total all-cause healthcare costs during follow-up period were 8980.83 (17,721.48) CNY, with a 4446.48 CNY increase (p-value < 0.001) from 4534.35 (9791.93) CNY at baseline. The cost increase was primarily driven by an increase in hospitalization and medication costs after the DPNP diagnosis. A similar trend in the treatment pattern and total cost increase after DPNP diagnosis was also found in a sensitivity analysis when excluding over-the-counter (OTC) products from the analysis.

DPNP is associated with significantly increased utilization of healthcare services and costs for patients in China.