Cost of cardiovascular diseases in Serbia

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) imposes a burden to society in terms’ of mortality, morbidity and economic losses. The aim of this study was to estimate the cost of CVDs in Serbia in 2009 from the perspective of the society. METHODS: For the purpose of the study CVD was defined by the International Classification of Disease 10 revision, as the following diagnosis: hypertension, coronary heart dis- ease, cardiomyopathy, heart failure and cerebrovascular disease. The prevalence, top-down method was used to quantify the annual cardiovascular costs. Produc- tivity losses were estimated using the human capital approach and the friction cost method. Data were collected from Serbian Health Insurance Fund and National Public Health Institute “Batut”. A discount rate of 5% was used to convert all future lifetime earnings into the present value. RESULTS: The total direct costs of CVD in 2009 were € 400 million. The majority of total costs (€ 514.3 million) were for: medication (29.94%), hospital days (28.97%) and hospital inpatient care — surgical and diagnostic interventions (17.84%). Indirect costs (mortality and morbidity) ac- counted for 22.15% of total costs. The results showed that more than half a million working days were lost due to incapacity resulting from CVDs. The results were robust to a change in 20% of volume or the unit price of all direct and indirect cost and to discount rate 2% and 10%. CONCLUSIONS: The total CVD in 2009 repre- sented approximately 1.8% of the Serbian gross domestic product. The results of study would be valuable to health policy makers to bridge the gap between in- vested resources and needs, in order to improve cardiovascular disease outcomes.