Background: Diabetes mellitus is an obtrusive universal health emergency in developed and developing countries, including India. With the exponential rise of epidemiological conditions, the costs of treating and managing diabetes are on an upsurge. This study aimed to estimate the cost of diabetes and determine the determinants of the total cost among diabetic patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was executed in the northern state of Punjab, India. It involves the multi-stage area sampling technique and data was collected through a self-structured questionnaire adapted following the “ WHO STEPS Surveillance ” manual. Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis tests were performed to compare the cost differences in socio-demographic variables. Lastly, multiple linear regression was conducted to determine and evaluate the association of the dependent variable with numerous influential determinants. Results: The urban respondents' average direct and indirect costs are higher than rural respondents. Age manifests very eccentric results; the highest mean direct outpatient care expenditure of ₹52,104 was incurred by the respondents below 20 years of age. Gender, complications, income, history of diabetes and work status were statistically significant determinants of the total cost. Study reports a rapid increase in the median annual direct and indirect cost from ₹15,460 and ₹3572 in 1999 to ₹34,100 and ₹4200 in 2021. Conclusions: The present study highlights that the economic jeopardy of diabetes can be managed by educating people about diabetes and its associated risk factors. The economic burden of diabetes could be restrained by formulating new health policies and promoting the use of generic medicines. The result of the study directs that expenditure on outpatient care is to be reimbursed under the ‘ Ayushman Bharat-Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana’ .
This study aims to identify artificial intelligence and blockchain technology's publication productivity and intellectual structure in the healthcare industry. This study employs a bibliometric-content analysis technique to determine intellectual structure and publication productivity. The Scopus database analyses identified research articles from 2018 to 2023. The findings of the thematic mapping show that AI and blockchain are emerging techniques and topics such as “smart healthcare”, “patient-centric”, “healthcare management”, “virtual & augmented reality”, “decentralization”, etc. are the potential and new dimensions that can be looked upon in future themes. This study advances knowledge by providing a current and future overview of AI and blockchain integration in the healthcare industry that would create new and enhance existing research streams.
Sustainable ecotourism is tourism that meets the prerequisites of responsible travel and environmental conservation and improves the financial well-being of local businesses. This study investigates the role of ecotourism policy, innovation, and social media as direct antecedents of sustainable ecotourism development and the moderating role of environmental philanthropy. A quantitative process was used, and existing validated scales were used to develop the survey instrument. A partial least squares path modeling technique was utilized to test the model. The study results show that ecotourism policy, innovation, and social media significantly influence ecotourism development, and environmental munificence determines the moderating role. This study suggests that tourism firms and local businesses should focus more on innovations and their applications. The role of social media and influences should also be extensively promoted amongst locals, tourists, and firms to achieve sustainable ecotourism development. This study extends the research by using the sustainable tourism theory as the theoretical foundation and validating the moderating role of environmental munificence between innovation and sustainable ecotourism development.