Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore, Singapore.
PLoS One. 2012;7(6):e37711. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0037711. Epub 2012 Jun 11.
To estimate the cost and patterns of expenditure of dry eye treatment.
We retrieved data on the type and cost of dry eye treatment in Singapore National Eye Centre from pharmacy and clinic inventory databases over a 2 year period (2008-2009) retrospectively. According to the type of treatment, data were sorted into 7 groups; meibomien gland disease (MGD) treatment, preservative free lubricant eye drops, preserved lubricant eye drops, lubricant ointments and gels, cyclosporine eye drops, oral supplements and non-pharmacological treatments/procedures. Each recorded entry was considered as one patient episode (PE). Comparisons in each group between two years were carried out using Pearson Chi-Square test. Significance level was set at alpha = 0.05.
Cost data from 54,052 patients were available for analysis. Total number of recorded PEs was 132,758. Total annual expenditure on dry eye treatment for year 2008 and 2009 were US$1,509,372.20 and US$1,520,797.80 respectively. Total expenditure per PE in year 2008 and 2009 were US$22.11 and US$23.59 respectively. From 2008 to 2009, there was a 0.8% increase in total annual expenditure and 6.69% increase in expenditure per PE. Pharmacological treatment attributes to 99.2% of the total expenditure with lubricants accounting for 79.3% of the total pharmacological treatment expenditure. Total number of units purchased in preservative free lubricants, cyclosporine eye drops and MGD therapy have increased significantly (p<0.001) whereas number of units purchased in preserved lubricants and ointments/gels have reduced significantly (p<0.001) from 2008 to 2009.
Dry eye imposes a significant direct burden to health care expenditure even without considering indirect costs. Health care planners should be aware that these direct costs appear to increase over the time and more so for particular types of medications. Given the limitations of socio-economic data, true societal costs of Dry eye syndrome are likely to be much higher than estimated.
评估干眼症治疗的费用和支出模式。
我们从 2008 年至 2009 年的药房和诊所库存数据库中检索了新加坡国家眼科中心干眼症治疗的类型和费用数据，进行回顾性分析。根据治疗类型，数据分为 7 组：睑板腺疾病（MGD）治疗、无防腐剂润滑滴眼液、含防腐剂润滑滴眼液、润滑眼膏和凝胶、环孢素滴眼液、口服补充剂和非药物治疗/程序。每个记录条目被视为一个患者治疗周期（PE）。使用 Pearson Chi-Square 检验对两年间各治疗组进行比较。显著性水平设置为 alpha = 0.05。
我们可对 54052 名患者的成本数据进行分析。记录的 PE 总数为 132758 个。2008 年和 2009 年干眼症治疗的总年度支出分别为 1509372.20 美元和 1520797.80 美元。2008 年和 2009 年每个 PE 的总支出分别为 22.11 美元和 23.59 美元。从 2008 年到 2009 年，总年度支出增加了 0.8%，每个 PE 的支出增加了 6.69%。药物治疗占总支出的 99.2%，其中润滑剂占药物治疗总支出的 79.3%。无防腐剂润滑剂、环孢素滴眼液和 MGD 治疗的总购买单位数显著增加（p<0.001），而 2008 年至 2009 年含防腐剂的润滑剂和眼膏/凝胶的购买单位数显著减少（p<0.001）。
即使不考虑间接成本，干眼症也会给医疗保健支出带来重大直接负担。医疗保健规划者应注意到，这些直接成本似乎随着时间的推移而增加，特别是对于某些类型的药物更是如此。鉴于社会经济数据的局限性，干眼症综合征的实际社会成本可能远高于估计。
