Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Apr-Jun;44(2):113-117.
doi: 10.4103/ijcm.IJCM_224_18.

"DIABETIC TAX" - Cost of Care among Persons with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in an Urban Underprivileged Area of Bengaluru

Geethu Mathew  1 , Farah N Fathima  2 , Twinkle Agrawal  2 , Dominic Misquith  2
Affiliations

"DIABETIC TAX" - Cost of Care among Persons with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in an Urban Underprivileged Area of Bengaluru

Geethu Mathew et al. Indian J Community Med. 2019 Apr-Jun.

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus drains a significant percent of the health budget by cost toward direct diabetes care and diabetes-related disabilities.

Objectives: The aim of the study is to assess the annual costs incurred by patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Methodology: This cross-sectional study was undertaken among 153 diabetic people in an urban underprivileged area of Bengaluru from January 2013 to January 2014. This was a cost of illness study done from the patient's perspective using a structured interview schedule.

Results: A diabetic person in an urban underprivileged community in Bengaluru spends 11,489.38 ± 28,341.77 annually for diabetic care. Direct and indirect costs accounted for 95% and 5% of costs. Majority were spent on admission (45.1%), followed by drugs (21.8%), investigations (5.6%), and consultations (4.5%). Nonmedical costs such as food and transport accounted for 18% of the costs. About 50% of them had delayed treatment due to financial constraints. Nearly 25% of patient's income and 10.7% of the family income were spent for diabetic care. Higher education, income, duration of disease, hospital admission, type of treatment, and place of treatment were found to be associated with costs.

Conclusion: Estimates of cost will help conceptualize strategies to deal with the situation at local, regional, and national level.

Keywords: Cost of illness; diabetes mellitus; underprivileged area.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Details of the door-to-door survey
Figure 2
Figure 2
Break up of total costs among all patients (n = 153)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Diabetic Association. Diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus. [Last accessed on 2014 May 01];Diabet Care. 2008 31:55–66. Available from: http://www.care.diabetesjournals.org/content/31/Supplement_1/S55.full .
    1. World Health Organization. The Top Ten Causes of Death. Face Sheet. World Health Organization. 2014. [Last accessed on 2014 May 22]. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/
    1. India – International Diabetic Federation. [Last accessed on 2018 May 19]. Available from: http://www.idf.org/
    1. Ramachandran A, Jali MV, Mohan V, Snehalatha C, Viswanathan M. High prevalence of diabetes in an urban population in South India. BMJ. 1988;297:587–90. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ramachandran A, Snehalatha C, Dharmaraj D, Viswanathan M. Prevalence of glucose intolerance in Asian Indians. Urban-rural difference and significance of upper body adiposity. Diabetes Care. 1992;15:1348–55. - PubMed