Costs of Guillain-Barré Syndrome in the Brazilian Federal District: the patients' perspective.

Background: Although rare, Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) has a high economic burden, with consequences for families and society. This study aimed to estimate the total cost of GBS, per individual and per variant of the disease, as well as its effect on household income, from the perspective of patients.

Methods: This was a cost-of-illness study from the perspective of patients and their families, with a time horizon from disease onset to 6 mo after discharge. The total cost of GBS was estimated by bottom-up microcosting, considering direct and indirect costs.

Results: The median cost of GBS per individual was US$1635.5, with direct costs accounting for 64.3% of this amount. Among the variants analyzed, acute motor sensory axonal neuropathy (US$4660.1) and acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (US$2017.0) exhibited the highest costs compared with acute motor axonal neuropathy (US$1635.5) and Miller Fisher Syndrome (US$1464.8). The costs involved compromise more than 20% of the household income of 22 (47.8%) patients.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated how costly GBS can be. It is hoped that decision-makers will analyze these results with a view to improving the structure of healthcare services.