OBJECTIVE To estimate the incidence and direct medical costs for fatal and non-fatal fall injuries among US adults aged >or=65 years in 2000, for three treatment settings stratified by age, sex, body region, and type of injury. METHODS Incidence data came from the 2000 National Vital Statistics System, 2001 National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program, 2000 Health Care Ut...

BACKGROUND Very little is known about the economic burden of eating disorders (ED) and related mental health comorbidities. METHODS Using 5 years of data from the U.S. Medical Expenditures Panel Survey, we estimated the difference in annual health care costs, employment status, and earned income (2011 US$) between individuals with current ED compared to those without ED. We further estimated ...

The United States spends nearly $8000 per person on health care annually. Even for a wealthy country, this amount is substantially more than would be expected and 2.5 times the average spent by other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. The growth rate of health care spending in the United States has also far outpaced that in all other high-income OECD countri...

BACKGROUND Assessment and appraisal of new medical technologies require a balance between the interests of different stakeholders. Final decision should take into account the societal value of new therapies. OBJECTIVE This perspective paper discusses the socio-economic burden of disease as a specific reimbursement decision-making criterion and calls for the inclusion of it as a counterbalance...

BACKGROUND The socio-economic impact of bipolar disorder in the UK is unknown. AIMS To estimate the annual socio-economic burden imposed by bipolar disorder on UK society. METHOD The annual cost of resource use attributable to managing bipolar disorder was calculated. Indirect societal costs were also calculated. RESULTS The annual National Health Service (NHS) cost of managing bipolar di...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, which is prevalent in people over 65 years old. PD reduces patients' quality of life and exerts a heavy economic burden on patients and their families. The purpose of this research is to identify the costs of PD and to evaluate the economic distribution of medical care for PD patients in China. METH...

BACKGROUND The burden of out of pocket spending for the Mexican population is high compared to other countries. Even patients insured by social security institutions have to face the cost of health goods, services or nonmedical expenses related to their illness. Primary caregivers, in addition, experience losses in productivity by taking up responsibilities in care giving activities. This situa...

PURPOSE The economic burden of COPD has not been well studied in China. This study investigated the total costs caused by COPD and the influencing factors for the high economic burden in urban areas of China. PATIENTS AND METHODS A cross-sectional study was carried out among 678 COPD patients in four cities in China in 2011. The average annual direct medical costs (DMCs), direct nonmedical co...

OBJECTIVE Antiparkinsonian pharmacotherapy is costly and the determinants of drug costs in Parkinson's disease (PD) have been poorly investigated. The objective of this study was to investigate the costs of PD and antiparkinsonian drugs in an Italian cohort of patients and identify cost-driving factors of drug therapy. METHODS Seventy outpatients with idiopathic PD were recruited in the Depar...

The objective was to estimate the economic costs of diagnosed type 1 (T1DM) and type 2 (T2DM) diabetes mellitus in the United States in 2007. Medical claims were analyzed to estimate the proportion of diagnosed diabetes cases and excess medical costs by diabetes type. Indirect costs associated with T1DM and T2DM were estimated by using findings from the literature on diagnosed diabetes, as well...