Economic Burden of Non-medicinal Poisoning From Healthcare Provider Perspective in 2020: A Prevalence-Based Cost-of-Illness Study in Thailand

Background: Between 2010 and 2019 in Thailand, hospital admissions due to toxic effects of non-medicinal substances (International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision [ICD-10] codes: T51-T65) ranged from 59.78 to 87.47 per 100 000 population. The objective of this study was to estimate the costs of non-medicinal poisoning from healthcare provider perspective, and identify factors associated with the costs in Thailand for the year 2020. Methods: This was a prevalence-based cost-of-illness study conducted from healthcare provider perspective, analysing data from five hospitals (four regional and one provincial) across the Central, North, and Northeast regions of Thailand. We included all patients diagnosed with non-medicinal poisoning (ICD-10 codes: T51-T65) during the fiscal year 2020. Direct medical costs were calculated from hospital databases, estimating the cost per outpatient/emergency visit and the cost per hospital admission. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the factors affecting these costs. All total costs were converted to international dollar (Int$) for 2020. Results: A total of 3260 patients were included (2472 outpatient visits and 788 admissions). The mean age was 39 years, with 51% being male. The mean cost per outpatient visit was Int$ 47, and the mean cost per admission was Int$ 896. Key factors significantly associated with higher costs included patient type (outpatient vs admission), length of stay (LOS), age, insurance scheme, diagnosis group, and the presence of comorbidities. Conclusion: This study provided critical, updated data that can inform health policy by emphasizing the economic burden of non-medicinal poisoning. These findings underscore the need for strengthening poisoning prevention and early intervention services and offer essential data for conducting future economic evaluation studies of relevant interventions in Thailand.