Analysis of economic burden for patients with cystic echinococcosis in five hospitals in northwest China

The direct and indirect economic burden of human cystic echinococcosis (CE) was investigated in the five specialist hydatid hospitals in Xinjiang, PR China, to provide information for health policy in the future. A total of 2018 CE patients (age range 2-88 years) attending the hospitals were studied between 2004 and 2008. The per-person direct medical cost was US$1493.12 (95% CI 1438.43-1547.80) and the per-person direct non-medical cost was US$19.67. The indirect economic cost was US$1435.96 per person, and the disability-adjusted life-years (DALY) lost was approximately 1.03 DALY/person. This study is the first to combine the human capital method with DALYs to analyse the indirect CE economic burden in northwest China. Factors such as age, occupation and hospital level should be considered when developing polices to reduce the economic burden of CE.