Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare progressive condition. We aimed to estimate the economic and humanistic burden of PAH in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2025.
METHODS: A burden-of-disease model was developed to estimate the burden among adult and pediatric patients. Model inputs were derived from published literature and local expert interviews. Economic burden included direct and indirect costs. Direct costs were calculated based on healthcare resource utilization and unit costs, while indirect costs captured productivity losses among patients and caregivers. Humanistic burden included the disease’s impact on quality-of-life and survival using disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Patients were stratified by WHO functional classes (FC I-IV).
RESULTS: PAH population was estimated at 275 (226 adults, 49 pediatrics; 32 Emiratis, 243 expatriates). Among adults, 26.1% in FC I/II, 37.6% in FC III, and 36.3% in FC IV; corresponding pediatrics, 59.2%, 30.6%, and 10.2%. In adults, mean survival from diagnosis was 12.64, 7.66, and 3.26 years, respectively, while annual productivity loss was 32 days per patient in FC I/II and 202 days in FC III/IV. Annual direct costs per fully covered adult patient were AED 385,628 (FC I/II), AED 901,459 (FC III), and AED 1,824,498 (FC IV). Corresponding pediatric costs were AED 63,468, AED 320,644, and AED 795,650, respectively. Total population direct and indirect costs were estimated at AED 104.7 million, and AED 34.3 million, yielding annual economic burden of AED 139.0 million. Total population DALYs were 10,973 (7,715 adults; 3,258 pediatrics).
CONCLUSIONS: PAH imposes a substantial socioeconomic burden in the UAE. Direct costs per patient increased with being approximately 2-fold higher in FC IV than FC III and 2.3-fold higher in FC III than FC I/II in adults. Similar trends were observed across outcomes in adults and pediatrics. Keeping patients in lower functional classes may significantly reduce PAH’s burden.