Comparative cost analysis of ckd patients on ayurvedic treatment and conventional treatment

Background: Incidence of Chronic Kidney Disease is increasing rapidly. It is documented that patients present very late when the damage to kidney is already occurred. When ESRD is set Renal Replacement Therapy is the only treatment available. The most common form of RRT available in India is Haemodialysis. It is an irony that though RRT is cheapest in India, 90% of patients do not afford it. Aim: To develop an alternative easily administered acceptable, affordable, and cost effective line of treatment of CKD. Material & methods: A clinical trial on 50 CKD study subjects was conducted. Average Cost of the conventional treatment was noted from the subject in last 6 months. Cost of Ayurvedic treatment including other costs during 6 months of treatment was compared with the cost of conventional treatment. Most of the study subjects 39 (78%) were having CKD stage 5, 9 (18%) study subjects having CKD stage 4 & 2 (4%) study subjects with CKD stage 3B. These subjects were effectively managed by Ayurvedic line of treatment. Results: This study established that subjects on dialysis were maintained without dialysis in due course of treatment. There were 2036 sessions of dialysis avoided (96.68%), saving a cost of Rs. 30.54 lacs in 39 study subjects with CKD- stage 5. Ayurvedic treatment was found to be 11.16 times cheaper than the conventional treatment. The cost of treatment for stage 4 & 3B was many folds less than the cost of the treatment of stage 5. Conclusion: Therefore, if we could detect and treat the subjects in stage 4 or 3B, lot of cost could be saved. Ayurvedic treatment was definitely cheaper, cost effective and a suitable alternative to conventional treatment of CKD.