Abstract:
Purpose: Non-communicable diseases impose a significant social, economic and health
burden. Hypertension, the leading contributor to the global burden of disease and a growing
public health problem worldwide, is one of the most serious non-communicable diseases. In
Ethiopia, empirical evidence on the economic burden of hypertension is limited. Therefore,
this study aimed to measure the cost of hypertension and associated factors at the University
of Gondar comprehensive specialized hospital, northwest Ethiopia.
Patients and Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 442
adult hypertensive patients using a semi-structured questionnaire to estimate the direct and
indirect costs of hypertension. The human capital approach was used to calculate indirect
costs. A generalized linear model was fitted to identify factors associated with the cost of
hypertension at a 95% confidence level and <0.05 p-value.
Results: A total of 442, 56.3% female and 64.3% stage one hypertension patients were
included. The total cost of hypertension was ETB 2510.32 ($91.72) ± 2152.80 (78.65) per
patient per year; The direct medical and non-medical cost constituted 60.81% and 12.17% of
the total cost of hypertension, respectively. Hospitalized (exp(b)=1.87, p<0.001), using
multidrug (exp(b)=1.32, p<0.000), high socioeconomic status (exp(b)=1.41,p<0.000), college
and above education(exp(b)= 1.35, p<0.016), government employment (exp(b)= 1.30,
p<0.012), retirement (exp(b)= 0.71, p< 0.001) and co-morbidity (exp(b)= 1.20, p<0.004)
were factors significantly associated with the cost of hypertension.
Conclusion: The total cost of illness of hypertension is high, and direct medical cost has the
highest component of the total cost of illness. Hospitalization, using multidrug, co-morbidity,
attending college and above education, highest socioeconomic status and government
employment were factors significantly associated with the high cost of hypertension.
Therefore, prevention and early detection of complications and co-morbidity are essential
to reduce hospitalization and the number of drugs to reduce the direct medical and indirect
costs
