[Social costs of the most common inflammatory rheumatic diseases in Mexico from the patient's perspective].
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the social costs of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and gout from the patient's perspective.


METHODS
We carried out a cross-sectional analysis of the cost and resource utilization of 690 RA, AS, and gout patients from 10 medical centers and private facilities in five cities of Mexico. The information was obtained from the baseline of a dynamic cohort. We estimated out-of-pocket expenses, institutional direct costs, and direct medical costs.


RESULTS
The mean (SD) annual out-of-pocket expense (USD) was $610.0 ($302.2) for RA, $578.6 ($220.5) for AS, and $245.3 ($124.0) for gout. Figures correspond to 15%, 9.6%, and 2.5% of the family income. They also represented 26.1%, 25.3%, and 24.4% of the total annual cost per RA, AS, and gout patients, respectively. The expected direct institutional patient/year costs were 1,724.2 for RA, $1,710.8 for AS, and $760.7 for gout. The total patient annual costs were $2,334.3 for RA, $2,289.4 for AS, and $1,006.1 for gout. Most out-of-pocket expenses were used to purchase drugs, pay for laboratory tests, imaging studies, and alternative therapies.


CONCLUSIONS
From the patient's perspective, the cost of RA, AS, and gout represents 25% of direct medical costs. The cost of RA is higher than that for AS and gout.
Mould-Quevedo
Joaquín
J
Unidad de Investigación en Economía de la Salud, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, México D.F., México.
Peláez-Ballestas
Ingris
I
Vázquez-Mellado
Janitzia
J
Terán-Estrada
Leobardo
L
Esquivel-Valerio
Jorge
J
Ventura-Ríos
Lucio
L
Aceves-Avila
Francisco J
FJ
Bernard-Medina
Ana G
AG
Goycochea-Robles
María V
MV
Hernández-Garduño
Adolfo
A
Burgos-Vargas
Rubén
R
Shumski
Clara
C
Garza-Elizondo
Mario
M
Ramos-Remus
César
C
Espinoza-Villalpando
Jesús
J
Alvarez-Hernández
Everardo
E
Flores-Alvarado
Diana
D
Rodríguez-Amado
Jaquelin
J
Casasola-Vargas
Julio
J
Skinner-Taylor
Cassandra
C
D000328:Adult; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000191:economics*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006073:Gout / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D008875:Middle Aged; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000191:economics*