title: Economic Burden of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Different Stages of Disease: A Report From Southern Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major blood-borne infection which imposes high economic cost on the patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The current study aimed to evaluate the total annual cost due to chronic HCV related diseases imposed on each patient and their family in Southern Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  Economic burden of chronic hepatitis C-related liver diseases (chronic hepatitis C, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma) were examined. The current retrospective study evaluated 200 Iranian patients for their socioeconomic status, utilization (direct and indirect costs) and treatment costs and work days lost due to illness by a structured questionnaire in 2015. Costs of hospital admissions were extracted from databases of Nemazee hospital, Shiraz, Iran. The outpatient expenditure per patient was measured through the rate of outpatient visits and average cost per visit reported by the patients; while the inpatient costs were calculated through annual rate of hospital admissions and average expenditure. Self-medication and direct non-medical costs were also reported. The human capital approach was used to measure the work loss cost.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The total annual cost per patient for chronic hepatitis C, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) based on purchasing power parity (PPP) were USD 1625.50, USD 6117.2, and USD 11047.2 in 2015, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Chronic hepatitis C-related liver diseases impose a substantial economic burden on patients, families and the society. The current study provides useful information on cost of treatment and work loss for different disease states, which can be further used in cost-effectiveness evaluations.
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterohepatology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zare
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterohepatology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Fattahi
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterohepatology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Masood
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sepehrimanesh
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterohepatology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Ali Reza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Safarpour
keywords: Cirrhosis; Cost; Economics; Hepatitis C; Hepatocellular Carcinoma