The cost of dialysis in low and middle income countries: A systematic review
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Date
2015
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMC Health Services Research
Abstract
Background: The cost of dialysis in low and middle-income countries has not been systematically reviewed. The objective of this article is to systematically review peer-reviewed articles on the cost of dialysis across low and middle-income countries.
Methods: PubMed and Embase databases were searched for the years 1998 to March 2013, and additional studies were added from Google Scholar search. An article was included if two reviewers agreed that it had reported the cost of dialysis from low and middle-income countries. Results: The annual cost per patient for hemodialysis (HD) ranged from Int$ 3,424 to Int$ 42,785, and peritoneal dialysis (PD) ranged from Int$ 7,974 to Int$ 47,971. Direct medical costs especially drugs and consumables for HD and dialysis solutions and tubing for PD were the main cost drivers.
Conclusion: The number of studies on the economics of dialysis in low and middle-income countries is limited. Few papers indicate that dialysis is an expensive form of treatment for the population of these countries and that the poorer countries have an over-proportional burden to finance dialysis services. Further research is needed to determine the cost of dialysis based on a standard methodology grounded on existing economic guidelines and to address the question of whether dialysis should be an element of the essential package of health in resource-poor countries. Used data should be as complete as possible. In case of missing data, proxies can be used. In the case of developing countries, expert interviews
are often used for estimating missing information.
Description
Article published by Springer Nature in the Journal of the BMC health services research, 2015
Keywords
cost of dialysis, Dialysis, Peritoneal dialysis, Hemodialysis, Low and middle-income countries, Cost, middle-income countries, annual cost per patient for hemodialysis (HD), peritoneal dialysis (PD), Upper middle-income countries, Least developed countries
Citation
APA