Lan Gao1, Li Xia2, Song-Qing Pan3, Tao Xiong4, Shu-Chuen Li5. 1. School of Biomedical Sciences & Pharmacy, The University of Newcastle, MS 128, Medical Sciences Building,Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia. Electronic address: Lan.Gao@deakin.edu.au. 2. Neurology Department, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, 238 Jiefang Road, Wuchang District, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, China. Electronic address: XL412@163.com. 3. Neurology Department, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, 238 Jiefang Road, Wuchang District, Wuhan, Hubei 430060, China. Electronic address: psq@medmail.com.cn. 4. Neurology Department, The Fifth Hospital of Wuhan, No. 5, Xianzheng Street, Hanyang District, Wuhan, Hubei 430050, China. Electronic address: xtt7509@126.com. 5. School of Biomedical Sciences & Pharmacy, The University of Newcastle, MS 108, Medical Sciences Building, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia. Electronic address: ShuChuen.Li@newcastle.edu.au.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: We aimed to gauge the burden of epilepsy in China from a societal perspective by estimating the direct, indirect and intangible costs. METHODS: Patients with epilepsy and controls were enrolled from two tertiary hospitals in China. Patients were asked to complete a Cost-of-Illness (COI), Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) questionnaires, two utility elicitation instruments and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Healthy controls only completed WTP questionnaire, and utility instruments. Univariate analyses were performed to investigate the differences in cost on the basis of different variables, while multivariate analysis was undertaken to explore the predictors of cost/cost component. RESULTS: In total, 141 epilepsy patients and 323 healthy controls were recruited. The median total cost, direct cost and indirect cost due to epilepsy were US$949.29, 501.34 and 276.72, respectively. Particularly, cost of anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) (US$394.53) followed by cost of investigations (US$59.34), cost of inpatient and outpatient care (US$9.62) accounted for the majority of the direct medical costs. While patients' (US$103.77) and caregivers' productivity costs (US$103.77) constituted the major component of indirect cost. The intangible costs in terms of WTP value (US$266.07 vs. 88.22) and utility (EQ-5D, 0.828 vs. 0.923; QWB-SA, 0.657 vs. 0.802) were both substantially higher compared to the healthy subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Epilepsy is a cost intensive disease in China. According to the prognostic groups, drug-resistant epilepsy generated the highest total cost whereas patients in seizure remission had the lowest cost. AED is the most costly component of direct medical cost probably due to 83% of patients being treated by new generation of AEDs.
OBJECTIVES: We aimed to gauge the burden of epilepsy in China from a societal perspective by estimating the direct, indirect and intangible costs. METHODS:Patients with epilepsy and controls were enrolled from two tertiary hospitals in China. Patients were asked to complete a Cost-of-Illness (COI), Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) questionnaires, two utility elicitation instruments and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Healthy controls only completed WTP questionnaire, and utility instruments. Univariate analyses were performed to investigate the differences in cost on the basis of different variables, while multivariate analysis was undertaken to explore the predictors of cost/cost component. RESULTS: In total, 141 epilepsypatients and 323 healthy controls were recruited. The median total cost, direct cost and indirect cost due to epilepsy were US$949.29, 501.34 and 276.72, respectively. Particularly, cost of anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) (US$394.53) followed by cost of investigations (US$59.34), cost of inpatient and outpatient care (US$9.62) accounted for the majority of the direct medical costs. While patients' (US$103.77) and caregivers' productivity costs (US$103.77) constituted the major component of indirect cost. The intangible costs in terms of WTP value (US$266.07 vs. 88.22) and utility (EQ-5D, 0.828 vs. 0.923; QWB-SA, 0.657 vs. 0.802) were both substantially higher compared to the healthy subjects. CONCLUSIONS:Epilepsy is a cost intensive disease in China. According to the prognostic groups, drug-resistant epilepsy generated the highest total cost whereas patients in seizure remission had the lowest cost. AED is the most costly component of direct medical cost probably due to 83% of patients being treated by new generation of AEDs.
Authors: Marufa Sultana; Nur H Alam; Nausad Ali; A S G Faruque; George J Fuchs; Niklaus Gyr; Md Jobayer Chisti; Tahmeed Ahmed; Lisa Gold Journal: Arch Dis Child Date: 2021-04-27 Impact factor: 3.791
Authors: Clément François; John M Stern; Augustina Ogbonnaya; Tasneem Lokhandwala; Pamela Landsman-Blumberg; Amy Duhig; Vivienne Shen; Robin Tan Journal: J Mark Access Health Policy Date: 2017-05-19