Direct economic burden of 803 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and influencing factors in Ningbo

Objective To understand the direct economic burden of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) in communities in Ningbo, Zhejiang province. Methods A total of 803 COPD patients in 24 communities in Ningbo were selected through random clustering sampling as study subjects, and a household questionnaire survey was conducted among them to collect the information about their demographic characteristics, COPD suffering and direct economic burden caused by COPD in the past years. Results The median of annual direct economic burden was 4243 yuan RMB for the COPD patients. The difference in direct economic burden between males and females was statistical significant(t=2.259,P=0.024), but differences was not statistical significant among different age groups(F=2.822,P=0.06). The main influencing factors included age, sex and marital status. Conclusion The direct economic burden of community COPD patients was heavy in Ningbo. It is necessary to develop appropriate health police and conduct effective intervention to ruduce the economic burden suffered by COPD patient.