Dados do Trabalho

Título

The economic impact of anti-seizure medications: Analysis in a specialized center for epilepsy in Brazil

Introdução

Epilepsy is a chronic disease that affects 50 million people worldwide, 85% of whom live in developing countries, of which about 3 million are in Brazil. The main treatment for epilepsy consists of the daily use of anti-seizure medications (ASD), which contribute to a large part of the expenses with epilepsy.

Objetivo

The purpose of this study was to estimate the cost of ASD in patients at a specialized epilepsy center in Brazil and its economic impact.

Método

A retrospective study was carried out based on the prevalence and bottom-up approach, with a sample of 166 patients with epilepsy from a specialized center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, over a period of 1 year. To assess the ASD costs, price tables provided by the Medicines Market Regulation Chamber, which is an inter-ministerial body responsible for economic regulation of the medicines market in Brazil, were used.

Resultados

A cost of R$5.074,22/patient/year (Int$2.150,09/patient/year) was found, and 62.42% of the patients purchased all the ASD out-of-pocket, and just 7.27% had all the ASD by the health public system.

Conclusão

This high cost of ASD can be partly explained by the availability of new drugs in the Brazilian market in the last decade, which have higher costs, associated with a high tax rate on medications that reaches 20% in Brazil. In addition, the total annual value with ASD/year (Int$2,150.09) is equivalent to about 15% of the Brazilian GDP per capita in 2020 (Int$14.064,00) and about 80% of these expenses are paid by the patients themselves. Thus, it is expected that such data can help health managers in the efficient reallocation of resources aimed at this group of patients.

Palavras-chave

Epilepsy; Antiseizure medications; Costs; Impact.