Correlation between patient characteristics and direct medical costs in asthma treatment at District 11 Hospital.

Abstract

     Asthma is a chronic disease that brings about a long-term economic burden to patients, so health insurance is essential when it comes to treatment at district hospitals. To have a more specific view of the above issue, the study conducted a survey on direct medical costs in asthma treatment at District 11 Hospital. We conducted retrospective review of medical records and electronic data on asthma treatment costs in 2020 on the group of patients aged 16 years and older. The results show that the average direct medical cost per asthma patient when treated at District 11 Hospital in 2020 was 2,918,705 VND, with a confidence interval of 95 % (2,613,629-3,223,780) VND. In the components of direct medical costs, the cost of medicines was 2,204,131 VND, accounting for the highest proportion with 75.52 %. The average annual direct medical cost of each female patient was 3,285,230 VND, which was higher than that of the male patient, at 2,397,572 VND (1.4 times more expensive for female than male). The average annual direct medical costs of each patient also increase with age and there are differences among groups of patients with different numbers of comorbidities.