title: Estimation of diagnosis and treatment costs of non-alcoholic Fatty liver disease: a two-year observation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There are insufficient data available on utilization and health care costs of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The cost data for different health conditions and services is a major gap in Iranian health system. So this study is the primary or first step towards filling this gap.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to estimate the diagnosis and treatment costs of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was conducted on 528 subjects. The subjects had been diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver. All the subjects had been referred to the Tehran Fatty Liver Clinic, a clinic of the Baqiyatallah Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, in 2009 and they had been observed for 2 years to determine the frequency of health care utilization (physician visit, laboratory tests, medication and cost of sonography). The costs of diagnosis and treatment for each person were estimated in Purchasing Power Parity dollars (PPP$).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average total cost was 5,043 PPP$ per person in the 2 years of observation. Majority of these 528 patients (87.9%) had a BMI ≥ 25 (kg/m2). Also, 33.9% were diagnosed with comorbid diseases such as Diabetes Mellitus (DM), Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), hypertension (HTN) and hypothyroidism (HYPO).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results confirmed that the total costs for non-alcoholic fatty liver among the Iranian adult urban population alone exceeded 1 billion PPP$ per year. These costs can be saved or reduced by effective disease management and early prevention.
authors.affiliation: Baqiyatallah Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Ebrahim
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Ghamar Chehreh
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vahedi
authors.forename: Mohammad Amin
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pourhoseingholi
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ashtari
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Khedmat
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amin
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Zali
authors.forename: Seyed Moayed
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Alavian
keywords: Costs and Cost Analysis; Delivery of Health Care; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; Utilization
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