Annual cost incurred for the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus—a community-based study from coastal Karnataka

Diabetes is projected to become one of the world’s main disabler and killer within the next 25 years. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) due to its chronicity and incident complications is not only consuming patient’s household budget but also the overall healthcare budget. To estimate the annual cost incurred and proportion of family income spent for management of T2DM in the community, a community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among T2DM patients aged ≥ 40 years residing in the field practice area of a Medical College in Karnataka. A total of 809 subjects were included using stratified random sampling with proportionate sample technique. A pretested questionnaire was used to assess direct and indirect costs incurred for disease management in the last 1 year. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 15.0. The annual median (IQR) total cost incurred for the management of diabetes mellitus was estimated to be USD 73.2 which included direct cost of USD 62.2 (27.9–138.2) and indirect cost of USD 6.7 (2.2–22.6). The direct medical cost included USD 5.2 (< 1–9.43), USD 5.2 (2.9–10.4), USD 58.6 (20.8–124.0), and USD 217.7 (116.1–718.6) per person annually for consultation, investigation, medications, and hospitalization, respectively. The direct non-medical cost included USD 3.8 (1.7–10.8) and USD 3.0 (2.0–5.2) annually for the travel and food. On an average, 3% and 21% of the total family income was spent on outpatient and inpatient services, respectively. Annual cost incurred predominantly included direct costs of which medication and hospitalization expenses contributed a major portion.