[Economic impact of diabetes and its main complications in Argentina]

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Its weighted prevalence in argentine patients is 41.5%.The aim of this study was to estimate the direct medical costs associated with the treatment and follow-up of T2DM, in addition to its main chronic complications.

Micro-costing analysis to calculate and estimate the frequency of resource use and to determine the overall cost in Argentine pesos (ARS; August 2022) of the T2DM related complications described in the Argentinean population of CAPTURE study.

The estimated annual direct cost for the follow-up and treatment of T2DM per patient was ARS 252 899.45 (United States dollars [USD] 1774.48) in the social security subsector and ARS 257 799.10 (USD 1808.86) in the private subsector. Stroke was the most expensive diabetes-related complication. As the complexity of care increased, there was a relative decrease in medication cost, with concomitant increases in the cost of interventions. When considering the cost of treatment for uncomplicated T2DM as a baseline parameter, cardiovascular, renal, and cerebrovascular events multiplied this value by up to 9.9, 8.4, and 47.8 times, respectively.

The significant economic burden of T2DM complications in the Argentine healthcare system, both in the social security and the private sectors, highlights the importance of understanding these costs to make effective strategic decisions regarding disease management and population health policy planning.