Chronic Liver Disease Expenses Cost Nearly $20,000 Per Year

Not only is chronic liver disease the 12^th leading cause of death in the United States, but it hurts a patient’s wallet and quality of life.

Researchers from the Inova Fairfax Hospital and Inova Health System in Virginia focused on the economic burden associated with chronic liver disease. But how much of a burden is it actually? The analysis was presented during a session at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2016 in San Diego, California on May 22.

The team collected data on employment status, number of disability days in a year, activity limitations, and impact on quality of life in 230,406 patients with chronic liver disease from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Patients had an average age of 53.9 were less likely to be college graduates, and had lower annual incomes than matched controls. All participants had at least one disability day within a year that caused loss of work.

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“Patients with chronic liver disease experience a tremendous burden due to their disease which includes both substantial healthcare expenses, negative employment impact, and a significant impairment of quality of life,” the authors summed up.

There clear differences between those with chronic liver disease and controls including physical activity limitations (34% vs. 12.2%), work/home/school activity limitations (34.6% vs. 9.3%), social limitations (19.7% vs. 5.2%), and cognitive limitations (17.6% vs. 4.6%).

People with chronic liver disease had lost more work days due to disability which resulted in higher healthcare expenses than a control ($18,359 vs. $5,271 per year). Psychologic distress and depressive symptoms were also more common in those with the condition.

Also on MD Magazine >>> More news from Digestive Disease Week 2016