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The Lifetime Expenditure in People with Keratoconus in Saudi Arabia

Aim: This study measured and evaluated the socioeconomic burden of people living with keratoconus in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional design, a Keratoconus Economic Burden Questionnaire, and a convenient sample of 89 keratoconus patients (58.4% male) drawn from multiple r...

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Autores principales: Al-Atawi, Saleha, Alghamdi, Ali, Alzahrani, Khaled
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10443371/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37606498
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vision7030052
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author Al-Atawi, Saleha
Alghamdi, Ali
Alzahrani, Khaled
author_facet Al-Atawi, Saleha
Alghamdi, Ali
Alzahrani, Khaled
author_sort Al-Atawi, Saleha
collection PubMed
description Aim: This study measured and evaluated the socioeconomic burden of people living with keratoconus in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional design, a Keratoconus Economic Burden Questionnaire, and a convenient sample of 89 keratoconus patients (58.4% male) drawn from multiple regions in Saudi Arabia. It was conducted using online surveys, and the data were analyzed using appropriate quantitative techniques. Results: The mean age and annual income of the participants were 33.24 (SD = 6.82) years and USD 9046.52 (SD = 16,866.48), respectively, with only 37% being employed for wages. Up to 94.4% needed glasses or contact lenses at least once a week, and 73.0% received care from optometrists. The condition forced 45.9% of the respondents to change careers or leisure activities, with a further 51.3% having to take time off work. The mean annual out-of-pocket expenses for buying and maintaining glasses or contact lenses, as well as traveling and accommodation for keratoconus-related treatment were USD 2341.76 (SD = 3053.09), with 48.32 incurring upwards of USD 3240 over the period. The treatment costs increased with disease duration, r(89) = 0.216, p < 0.05. Regression results showed that the existence of comorbid eye disease, changing glasses at least once a year, and wearing either glasses or contact lenses at least once a week individually had statistically significant negative effects on the total annual keratoconus treatment costs, while disease duration, utilization of optometrists, and taking time off had a statistically significant increase on the total cost (p < 0.05). Conclusion: With a prevalence rate of 1 in 375, progressive debilitation, and the lifetime nature of the disease, keratoconus is a critical public health concern in Saudi Arabia. The resulting visual impairment and discomfort, as well as both direct and indirect economic burdens, have considerable impacts on the patient’s quality of life.
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spelling pubmed-104433712023-08-23 The Lifetime Expenditure in People with Keratoconus in Saudi Arabia Al-Atawi, Saleha Alghamdi, Ali Alzahrani, Khaled Vision (Basel) Article Aim: This study measured and evaluated the socioeconomic burden of people living with keratoconus in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional design, a Keratoconus Economic Burden Questionnaire, and a convenient sample of 89 keratoconus patients (58.4% male) drawn from multiple regions in Saudi Arabia. It was conducted using online surveys, and the data were analyzed using appropriate quantitative techniques. Results: The mean age and annual income of the participants were 33.24 (SD = 6.82) years and USD 9046.52 (SD = 16,866.48), respectively, with only 37% being employed for wages. Up to 94.4% needed glasses or contact lenses at least once a week, and 73.0% received care from optometrists. The condition forced 45.9% of the respondents to change careers or leisure activities, with a further 51.3% having to take time off work. The mean annual out-of-pocket expenses for buying and maintaining glasses or contact lenses, as well as traveling and accommodation for keratoconus-related treatment were USD 2341.76 (SD = 3053.09), with 48.32 incurring upwards of USD 3240 over the period. The treatment costs increased with disease duration, r(89) = 0.216, p < 0.05. Regression results showed that the existence of comorbid eye disease, changing glasses at least once a year, and wearing either glasses or contact lenses at least once a week individually had statistically significant negative effects on the total annual keratoconus treatment costs, while disease duration, utilization of optometrists, and taking time off had a statistically significant increase on the total cost (p < 0.05). Conclusion: With a prevalence rate of 1 in 375, progressive debilitation, and the lifetime nature of the disease, keratoconus is a critical public health concern in Saudi Arabia. The resulting visual impairment and discomfort, as well as both direct and indirect economic burdens, have considerable impacts on the patient’s quality of life. MDPI 2023-08-03 /pmc/articles/PMC10443371/ /pubmed/37606498 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vision7030052 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Al-Atawi, Saleha
Alghamdi, Ali
Alzahrani, Khaled
The Lifetime Expenditure in People with Keratoconus in Saudi Arabia
title The Lifetime Expenditure in People with Keratoconus in Saudi Arabia
title_full The Lifetime Expenditure in People with Keratoconus in Saudi Arabia
title_fullStr The Lifetime Expenditure in People with Keratoconus in Saudi Arabia
title_full_unstemmed The Lifetime Expenditure in People with Keratoconus in Saudi Arabia
title_short The Lifetime Expenditure in People with Keratoconus in Saudi Arabia
title_sort lifetime expenditure in people with keratoconus in saudi arabia
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10443371/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37606498
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vision7030052
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