فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Background and Objectives: The COVID19 pandemic has posed a significant threat to the economic well-being of patients, to health care systems and to society as a whole. This study aims to provide a brief and practical guide to estimating the economic burden of COVID-19 and to describe the essential features to be considered when estimating such costs.   Methods: This descriptive-analytical study utilized data from all COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals affiliated with Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences(SBMU) in 2020. Information on 49,044 patients was extracted from the university's Hospital Information Management (HIM) system. Patient demographic characteristics, direct medical costs, and indirect costs (lost productivity due to absence from work and premature mortality) were analyzed. The economic burden of the disease was estimated from a societal perspective. All analyses were performed using SPSS and EXCEL.   Results: The total economic burden was estimated to be $122,960,641.2 without a discount rate and $74,112,481.43 with a 5% discount rate. Direct costs were estimated at $9,834,548.89, while indirect costs were estimated at $113,126,092.3 (92%) without a discount rate and $64,277,932.53 (87%) with a 5% discount rate. Indirect costs were the main component of total costs, with lost working days and premature death being the primary contributors. Of the total direct medical costs, drugs, hoteling, laboratory tests, and consumables accounted for the largest share of patient hospitalization expenses.   Conclusion: This study demonstrates that COVID-19 imposes a significant burden on both patients and society as a whole. As such, policymakers should prioritize preventing future epidemics and designing intervention strategies that enable optimal responses in the event of future outbreaks.