Costs
According to Table 2, the mean of DMC in DCT group ($ 874.6) was lower than inpatient group ($ 1151.5). A significant difference was observed in DMC between two groups (p <0.01). Besides, the mean of DNMC in DCT group ($ 18.7) was lower than inpatient group ($ 27.0) and the difference between the mean total costs for patients and their companions food in two groups was $ 9 and a significant difference was seen between two groups (p <0.01). The total mean of IC, including the days absent from work and lost productivity for patients and their companions in the DCT group ($ 21.7) was lower than in the inpatient group ($ 49.3). Thus, in general, the results showed that in DCT group, DMC, DNMC and IC were all lower than inpatient group. The total average cost in DCT group ($ 915.1) was also significantly lower than inpatient group ($ 1227.9).