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High cost of illness in fibromyalgia patients in Iran, irrespective of disease severity: A prospective cost study
Author(s) -
Gharibpoor Faeze,
Nasrollahzadeh Elaheh,
GhavidelParsa Banafshesh,
Ghaffari Mohammad Ebrahim,
Bidari Ali
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of rheumatic diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.795
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1756-185X
pISSN - 1756-1841
DOI - 10.1111/1756-185x.14094
Subject(s) - medicine , fibromyalgia , prospective cohort study , burden of disease , disease , health care , indirect costs , physical therapy , disease burden , total cost , business , accounting , economics , microeconomics , economic growth
Abstract Aims This study aimed to estimate the economic burden of fibromyalgia (FM) in 6 months, using a cost‐diary, and to evaluate its relationship with the disease severity. Methods This is a prospective cost‐of‐illness study on 62 participants with an FM diagnosis within a 6 month period. Patients completed the questionnaires, including FIQR (Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire) and SF‐12 (12‐item short‐form survey). The cost‐diary method was used to track the cost of the disease. The participants received six cost‐diary booklets during the study period to report their FM‐related costs, hours, and days of productivity loss. The final costs are reported in US dollars. Results Most of the participants were women (90.3%) with a mean (±SD) age of 40.80 (±5.50) years and a mean (±SD) FIQR score of 54.38 (±14.13). Moreover, 45.2% of patients fulfilled all six booklets, whereas 24.2% returned only one booklet. The participants showed a mean (±SD) direct healthcare, non‐healthcare, and indirect cost of $ 2817.08 (±$ 1860.04), $ 1497.98(±$ 1358.21), and $ 1449.05(±$ 3637.41) per patient for 6 months, respectively. Conclusion Fibromyalgia is associated with high health‐related and non‐health‐related costs in our country, irrespective of its severity. This study warrants urgent consideration in managing the disease burden on both patients and society.