A cost analysis of functional bowel disorders in Iran.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The objective of this work is to evaluate the health care utilization and cost of different types of functional bowel disorder (FBD) in a population of Iranian patients and compare the costs in consulters and non-consulters.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A consecutive sample of 1,023 patients in an outpatient gastroenterology clinic in central Tehran were interviewed, using two questionnaires based on the Rome II criteria, from December 2004 to May 2005 to detect FBD patients and to determine the frequency of health resource utilization (physician visit, hospitalization, laboratory tests, imaging studies, and drugs) and productivity loss (days off work or with low functionality) due to FBD symptoms in the past 12 months. Societal perspective was used and cost per person per year was estimated in purchasing power parity dollars (PPP$).

RESULTS: The direct costs (for consulters, non-consulters; data presented in this order) were: irritable bowel syndrome (IBS; $92.04, $1.04), unspecified functional bowel disorder (FBD; $100.94, $0.39), functional constipation ($57.23, $1.04), and functional abdominal bloating ($71.35, $0.63). Indirect costs (for consulters, non-consulters) were: IBS ($811.85, $669.09), unspecified FBD ($705.85, $263.47), functional constipation ($587.48, $97.49), and functional abdominal bloating ($147.88, $38.60). Total yearly costs of IBS and functional constipation for urban adult population of Iran were roughly estimated at 2.94 billion PPP$ and 89.2 million PPP$, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: As proven in developed countries, FBD and especially IBS seem to put a heavy burden on the economy of a developing country like Iran. Further population-based studies are needed for more precise estimations.