Estimated indirect costs of haemodialysis versus peritoneal dialysis from a patients’ perspective at an Academic Hospital in Pretoria, South Africa

In South Africa (SA), patients with kidney failure can be on either haemodialysis (HD), which is performed by a healthcare professional in a hospital thrice weekly; or peritoneal dialysis (PD), which can performed daily at home. There needs to be more studies within the South African healthcare sector on the cost of kidney failure and especially the indirect costs associated with patients being on dialysis to provide future guidance. This study aimed to determine and compare the indirect costs associated with HD and PD from the patients’ perspective at an Academic Hospital in Pretoria. The study used a cross-sectional prospective quantitative study design. The researcher used face-to-face interviews to collect data and the human capital approach to calculate productivity losses. The study population included all patients over 18 receiving HD or PD for over three months; 54 patients participated (28 on HD and 26 on PD). The study lasted seven months, from September 2020 to March 2021. Haemodialysis patients incurred greater productivity losses per annum ($8127.55) compared to PD (R$3365.34); the difference was statistically significant with a P-value of p < 0.001. More HD (96.4%) patients were unemployed than (76.9%) PD patients. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-023-10109-2.