An Analysis of Average Treatment Costs for Atrial Fibrillation in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Nepal

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the average treatment costs for atrial fibrillation in a tertiary care hospital of Nepal

METHODS: The study was performed as a retrospective cohort study from January 2018 to June 2023. All the AF hospitalized patients aged 18 years and older were identified from the database of hospital. Cost related information were obtained from Dhulikhel Hospital.

RESULTS: Out of 64 patient 28(43.75%) patient were prescribed with warfarin and 36(56.25%) patients with NOACs (rivaroxaban, 51.56% and dabigatran 4.68%). The total treatment cost for patient prescribed with warfarin was $46.64 ± 36.59 per patient with median of 5 days of hospitalization whereas 49.64 ± 23.26 per patient with median of 4.5 days of hospitalization for NOACs. The largest portion of the expenses was attributed by hospitalization cost (83.904%) followed by laboratory investigations cost (10.624%) and drug cost (5.471%) in the patient prescribed with warfarin. Patient prescribed with NOACs also showed the similar fashion as hospitalization cost (69.32%) followed by laboratory investigations cost (23.85%) and drug cost (6.817%). Independent t test between two group reveled that there was no significant difference in cost of treatment between two groups (p value 0.697) at 95 % of confidence interval.

CONCLUSIONS: It has been found that cost of drug and hospitalization cost is nearly similar but the laboratory cost related to warfarin is slightly higher comparative to NOACs.