OBJECTIVES

: Ischemic heart failure (IHD) is prevalent in China, and exerting a huge economic burden to society. We aimed to estimate the cost of IHD in China by investigating the direct, indirect, and intangible costs in 2013.

METHODS

: A multi-center, cross-sectional study was conducted to collect data of Cost of Illness (COI), willingness to pay, and health utility data. Enrolled IHD patients were asked to complete a COI questionnaire, a WTP questionnaire and EQ-5D/VAS. Healthy controls were only asked to complete EQ-5D/VAS. Multivariate analyses were performed to explore the factors that predict the costs.

RESULTS

: In total, 412 IHD patients (angina=111; MI=151; and HF=149) and 119 controls were enrolled. In 2013, the annual direct cost was estimated as RMB 282.17 billion (US$ 45.51 billion) nationally, with hospitalization being the major part. The annual indirect cost was estimated as RMB 53.46 billion (US$ 8.6 billion). Besides, the intangible cost was estimated in terms of WTP and utility. Patients with MI reported the highest WTP value among the three patient subgroups, while patients with angina reported a higher WTP value than HF patients. Lower utility scores were observed in IHD patients compared to healthy controls. Factors affecting the costs were determined as age, gender, inpatient days, sub-diagnosis type, insurance type, income and utility of patients.

CONCLUSIONS

: In summary, our study showed ischemic Heart Disease impose heavy economic burden in China. Our study would provide information for making healthcare policy in resource allocation and planning, as well as further clinical research.