Costs of Hospital Admission on Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases.

BACKGROUND: Primary immunodeficiency diseases (PID) are heterogeneous group of inherited disorders mainly characterized by recurrent infections leading to several times hospital admissions. The economic impact of PID is a challenging issue; therefore, this study was designed to determine the medical costs of hospitalizations in this group of patients as an indicator of the direct cost of these diseases. METHODS: One hundred and ten children with PID hospitalized in the Children's Medical Center Hospital, Tehran, Iran were included in this study during Jan 2011 and Jan 2012. All direct costs during the admission period were calculated, using the hospital information system. RESULTS: Medical cost was 7.090$ per patient per admission. Among them, about 1.580$ belong to drug consuming during hospitalization. Anti-infective drugs for systemic use were the most cost-consuming group of drugs, followed by alimentary tract and metabolism and blood and blood forming organs agents. Investigation of anti-infective group internally showed that immune sera and immunoglobulin and antiviral agents for systemic use consisting the most important medication for PID patients during hospital admission. CONCLUSION: Although the results of economic evaluations in a region cannot necessarily be applied to other regions, having an overall estimation of hospital admission costs and types of drugs used during admission could be helpful in health policy system.

Knowledge and attitude assessment of Iranian multiple sclerosis patients receiving interferon beta.

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients permanently confronted with serious challenges from treatment regimen. Developing a new questionnaire in MS management, through evaluation of patients' perspectives and knowledge regarding treatment will help to identify the sources of tension, and to build a therapeutic alliance. We purposed to describe MS patients' understanding of their treatments. METHODS: About 425 completed and returned questionnaire were assessed of a total of 500 recruited MS patients. The knowledge of correct using interferon-beta (IFN-ß) and attitude toward medical care were assessed using self-reported questionnaires consisted of 25 items with validity of multidisciplinary panel and pre-testing on 20 patients. RESULTS: Knowledge about IFN-ß therapy was very low; however, attitude was at a high level. Female patients, self-injection ability, higher educational level, normal functional status, delay from the start of diagnostic workup to definite diagnosis, and being younger were related to a higher level of knowledge. Attitude was associated with functional status, family history of disease and the summary of knowledge variable. CONCLUSION: Developing educational interventions are needed for MS patients regarding to their low levels of knowledge.