Economic Burden of Rheumatoid Arthritis in Iran: A Societal Perspective

Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a progressive and chronic systemic inflammatory disease and imposes a significant economic burden on patients and societies if not controlled. This study aimed to determine the economic burden of RA in Iran in 2022. Methods This economic burden study was carried out as cross‐sectional research in 2022, in which 765 patients referred to the medical centers affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Fars province were included through census. The prevalence‐based and bottom‐up approaches were also used, respectively, to prepare the cost information and calculate the costs from the societal perspective. The human capital approach was used to calculate the indirect costs as well. The Excel 2016 software was used for data analysis. Results The results showed that the economic burden of RA in Iran was $6388.64 per patient‐year in 2022. In addition, the mean annual costs of RA per patient in remission, low, and moderate‐to‐severe states were, respectively, $6268.24, $6248.00, and $6729.43 in 2022. Conclusions RA imposed a significant economic burden on the community and patients, and direct medical costs (DMCs), especially the cost of medicines, were the most important component. It is suggested to provide necessary facilities to produce RA medicines in the country and expand the home care services in order to reduce the economic burden.