A Method to Assess the Potential Effects of Air Pollution Mitigation on Healthcare Costs

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to develop a method to assess the potential effects of air pollution mitigation on healthcare costs and to apply this method to assess the potential savings related to a reduction in fine particle matter in Denmark. METHODS The effects of air pollution on health were used to identify "exposed" individuals (i.e., cases). Coronary heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer were considered to be associated with air pollution. We used propensity score matching, two-part estimation, and Lin's method to estimate healthcare costs. Subsequently, we multiplied the number of saved cases due to mitigation with the healthcare costs to arrive to an expression for healthcare cost savings. RESULTS The potential cost saving in the healthcare system arising from a modelled reduction in air pollution was estimated at €0.1-2.6 million per 100,000 inhabitants for the four diseases. CONCLUSION We have illustrated an application of a method to assess the potential changes in healthcare costs due to a reduction in air pollution. The method relies on a large volume of administrative data and combines a number of established methods for epidemiological analysis.