Abstract

Objective

The aim of this study was to identify, from a health care perspective, the cost of treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia in specialized hospitals in Ukraine.

Methods

Cost analysis was performed by using retrospective data between 2006 and 2010 from patient-file databases of two specialized hospitals (145 patients). Uncertainty was assessed by using bootstrapping and multivariate sensitivity analyses. Linear regression analysis was used to analyze whether patients’ characteristics are related to health care costs. In addition, one-way analysis of variance (Welch test) and paired-sample t test were conducted to compare mean costs of treatment between the two hospitals and mean expenses for drugs and in-hospital stay.

Results

The average annual cost for a patient’s drug treatment is 2047 EUR. The cost of hospitalization was significantly lower (t = 5.026; significance two-tailed = 0.000) and equal to 541 EUR per person, resulting in total expenditures of 2589 EUR. Mean total costs in the bootstrap analysis were equal to 2584 EUR (median 2576 EUR, 97.5th percentile 3223 EUR; 2.5th percentile 1987 EUR). The regression analysis did not reveal a relation between patients’ characteristics and health care costs, although hospital choice was an influential parameter (β = −0.260; significance = 0.002). Significant difference in mean costs of two analyzed hospitals was also confirmed by one-way analysis of variance (Welch statistics 19.222, P = 0.000).

Conclusions

Drug treatment comprises the largest portion of total costs, but differences between hospitals exist. Because many patients in Ukraine pay out of pocket for in-hospital drugs, these costs are a high economic burden for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.