LAUSR

Objective: To understand the incidence and economic burden of herpes zoster among the aged in Laiwu district, Jinan city. Methods: Retrospective cohort study was conducted in 5 communities in Laiwu District, Jinan City from July to September, 2019. A total of 8 300 residents born before July 1, 1959 and aged ≥60 years old were included in the investigation. At the same time, an economic burden survey was carried out among 220 cases who developed herpes zoster after July 1, 2017. A questionnaire was used to collect information on incidence and economic burden of HZ, and comparisons were carried out about the incidence and economic burden of herpes zoster among older people with different characteristics. Results: The age of 8 300 subjects was (71.46±6.71) years old. Male and female accounted for 44.10% and 55.90%, respectively. The cumulative incidence of disease after the age of 60 was 73.61‰ among population aged ≥60 years old. The cumulative incidence was 28.03‰, 71.26‰, 86.09‰, 93.48‰ and 88.10‰ among population aged 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79 and ≥80 years old,respectively. The average annual incidence of HZ was 9.49‰ and annual incidence was 7.59‰, 7.23‰, 8.43‰, 10.24‰ and 13.98‰ in 2014-2018, respectively. HZ cost was (2 626±667) RMB per patient with a median cost of 715 RMB (interquartile range 303-2 358) on 220 cases who developed disease after July 1, 2017. The cost of outpatient cases was (1 329±1 835) RMB per patient with a median cost of 560 RMB (interquartile range 300-1 320), and the cost of inpatient cases was (14 303±16 571) RMB per patient with a median cost of 8 190 RMB (interquartile range 4 368-15 160). Conclusion: The incidence of HZ is high among population aged≥60 years old, which could cause heavy economic burden for them.