Healthcare utilization patterns and economic burden of animal bites: A cross-sectional study

• 作者: Vahid Bay Aziz Rezapour Mehdi Jafari Mohammad Reza Maleki Irvan Masoudi Asl
• 来源期刊: 急性病杂志（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2021,（4）
• 所属期刊栏目: Original Articles
• 页码范围: 142-146
• 页数: 5页
• 语种: 英文
• DOI: 10.4103/2221-6189.320962

摘要

Objective: To determine the healthcare utilization patterns and estimate the economic burden of animal bites in Golestan province, north part of Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed based on the data of 12181 animal-bite patients from Golestan province who were referred to the rabies prophylaxis centers between March 2019 and March 2020. The study was a societal perspective, and all patients were investigated by census method. The micro-costing method with a bottom-up approach as well as the human capital approach were used to estimate the economic burden. Results: In our study, the economic burden caused by animal bites was estimated at $1383639 (275354672060 Rials). The largest share of costs was related to direct healthcare costs, direct non-healthcare costs, and indirect costs accouting for 91％, 5％, and 4％, respectively. In addition, the average cost of a animal-bite patient was estimated at $113.5 (22605260 Rials) (The average cost of a case in type 2 and 3 exposures was $45 and $412.8, respectively). The largest share of direct healthcare costs was related to immunoglobulin, vaccine, and personnel expenses accounting for 61.3％, 19.8％, and 11.65％, respectively. Conclusions: Our study shows that animal bites in Golestan province, north of Iran impose a high economic burden on the communities, especially the healthcare system, which indicates the need to review management and control programs of animal bites and rabies based on animal-bite patterns of the area.