Economic Burden and Healthcare Costs of Type 2 Diabetes
Summary
Type 2 diabetes mellitus imposes a profound economic strain on individuals, health systems and society at large. Direct medical costs, including hospitalisation, outpatient care, medications and diagnostics, represent the largest share of expenditure. Indirect costs arising from lost productivity, absenteeism and premature mortality further amplify the financial impact. Expenditures escalate sharply with the onset of complications such as cardiovascular disease, nephropathy and neuropathy, reflecting both higher treatment intensity and longer lengths of stay. Out-of-pocket payments often drive households into financial hardship, especially in low- and middle-income settings where insurance coverage is limited. Health-system budgets face growing pressure as diabetes prevalence surges worldwide, prompting policy interest in cost-effective prevention, early detection and integrated care models. Economic evaluations underscore the value of lifestyle interventions, generic medicines and structured screening, but persistent gaps remain in harmonising methods and generating comparable cost estimates across regions.
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Economic Burden and Healthcare Costs of Type 2 Diabetes publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in economic burden and healthcare costs of type 2 diabetes across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Direct cost: Expenditure on medical services and goods, such as hospital stays, medications, laboratory tests and professional fees.
Indirect cost: Economic losses due to reduced productivity, work absenteeism and premature mortality linked to illness.
Cost-of-illness analysis: A method to estimate the total economic impact of a disease by summing direct and indirect costs.
Catastrophic health expenditure: Out-of-pocket health payments that exceed a defined proportion of household income, risking financial hardship.
Out-of-pocket expenditure: Direct payments made by patients for healthcare services not covered by insurance or subsidy schemes.
References
- Cost-of-illness of type 2 diabetes mellitus in low and lower-middle income countries: a systematic review. BMC Health Services Research (2018).
- Cost of diabetes and its complications: results from a STEPS survey in Punjab, India. Global Health Research and Policy (2023).
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus in Bangladesh: a prevalence based cost-of-illness study. BMC Health Services Research (2019).
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