Economic burden and quality of life of patients with cystic fibrosis in Bulgaria

Folia Medica Journal has published a paper on the economic burden and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). The study within the European project BURQOL-RD included 33 patients with CF and 17 caregivers from Bulgaria. Median annual costs of CF in Bulgaria were € 24 152 per patient in 2012 as a reference year. Median annual costs in children were found to be significantly higher than those in adults – € 31 945 vs. € 15 714. This outcome came from statistically significant differences in costs for main informal carer and costs for other informal carers. Median annual drug costs were € 13 059. Bulgarian CF patients indicated lowered HRQOL results – 50.00 median VAS score. The full-text article is available here.