OBJECTIVE To estimate the societal economic burden and the governmental budgetary impact of the following visual disorders among US adults aged 40 years and older: visual impairment, blindness, refractive error, age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and primary open-angle glaucoma. DESIGN We estimated 3 components of economic burden: direct medical costs, other di...

OBJECTIVE To assess direct costs associated with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). To determine which variables, including country, predict costs. METHODS 216 patients with AS from the Netherlands, France, and Belgium participated in a two year observational study and filled in bimonthly economic questionnaires. Disease related healthcare resource use was measured and direct costs were calculated ...

BACKGROUND Up to now, costs attributable to adverse events (AEs) and preventable AEs in the Netherlands were unknown. We assessed the total direct medical costs associated with AEs and preventable AEs in Dutch hospitals to gain insight in opportunities for cost savings. METHODS Trained nurses and physicians retrospectively reviewed 7,926 patient records in 21 hospitals. Additional patient inf...

BACKGROUND HCV virus (HCV) is a significant global problem with wide-ranging socio-economic impacts. Because of the high morbidity and mortality associated with end-stage liver disease, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the economic burden of HCV infection is substantial. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to estimate the direct medical care costs of chronic HCV infection. PATIENTS AN...

This study analyzed the approximate cost of treatment of patients hospitalized with a diagnosis of imported malaria in Slovakia. Between 2003 and 2007, 15 patients with imported malaria were hospitalized. The mean direct cost of the treatment was 970.75 euros and the mean indirect cost was 53.15 euros. For the patient with the highest cost of treatment, the use of mefloquine prophylaxis would h...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the direct medical costs of falls in the population of community-dwelling elderly. METHODS Data from a sample of 4,025 consumers from the 1997 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey were used to make estimates that were representative of the population of civilian, noninstitutionalized elderly in the United States. RESULTS In 1997, 9% of the noninstitutionalized elderly popu...

Background: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a medically complicated therapy with a long recovery time. In Tunisia, the National Health Insurance Fund (CNAM) covers only the first year post-transplantation, after which the costs are borne by the hospital. Objective: Describe complications that can occur during the second year post-allogeneic HSCT and calculate direct costs in d...

Variables influencing total direct medical costs in inflammatory bowel diseases include country, diagnosis (generally, patients with Crohn's disease generated higher costs compared with patients with ulcerative colitis), and year since diagnosis. In all studies the mean costs were higher than the median costs, which indicates that a relatively small group of the most severely ill patients signi...