IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0213889.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The societal costs of chronic pain and its determinants: The case of Austria

Author

Listed:
  • Susanne Mayer
  • Jonah Spickschen
  • K Viktoria Stein
  • Richard Crevenna
  • Thomas E Dorner
  • Judit Simon

Abstract

Background: Chronic pain is among the most burdensome conditions. Its prevalence ranges between 12% and 30% in Europe, with an estimated 21% among Austrian adults. The economic impact of chronic pain from a societal perspective, however, has not been sufficiently researched. This study aims to provide an estimate of the societal costs for working-age adults with chronic pain in Austria. It explores the impact of sex, number of pain sites, self-reported pain severity, health literacy and private health insurance on costs associated with chronic pain. Methods: A bottom-up cost-of-illness study was conducted based on data collected from 54 adult patients with chronic pain at three Viennese hospital outpatient departments. Information on healthcare costs including out-of-pocket expenses and productivity losses due to absenteeism and informal care were collected over 12 months. Resource use estimates were combined with unit costs and mean costs per patient were calculated in € for year 2016. Results: Mean annual societal costs were estimated at EUR 10191. Direct medical costs were EUR 5725 including EUR 1799 out-of-pocket expenses (mainly pain relieving activities and private therapy). Productivity losses including informal care amounted to EUR 4466. Total costs for women and patients with three or more pain sites were significantly higher. No association with health literacy was found but there was a tendency towards higher out-of-pocket expenses for patients with complementary private health insurance. Conclusion: This study is the first to provide a comprehensive assessment of the individual and societal burden of chronic pain in Austria. It highlights that chronic pain is associated with substantial direct medical costs and productivity losses. Patient costs may show systematic differences by health insurance status, implying a need for future research in this area.

Suggested Citation

  • Susanne Mayer & Jonah Spickschen & K Viktoria Stein & Richard Crevenna & Thomas E Dorner & Judit Simon, 2019. "The societal costs of chronic pain and its determinants: The case of Austria," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(3), pages 1-18, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0213889
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213889
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0213889
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0213889&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0213889?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tarricone, Rosanna, 2006. "Cost-of-illness analysis: What room in health economics?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 51-63, June.
    2. Alice Sanwald & Engelbert Theurl, 2015. "Out-of-pocket payments in the Austrian healthcare system - a distributional analysis," Working Papers 2015-05, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    3. Susanne Mayer & Noemi Kiss & Agata Łaszewska & Judit Simon, 2017. "Costing evidence for health care decision-making in Austria: A systematic review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, August.
    4. Klaus Eichler & Simon Wieser & Urs Brügger, 2009. "The costs of limited health literacy: a systematic review," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 54(5), pages 313-324, October.
    5. Thomas Czypionka & Markus Kraus & Susanne Mayer & Gerald Röhrling, 2014. "Efficiency, ownership, and financing of hospitals: The case of Austria," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 331-347, December.
    6. Thomas Leoni, 2015. "Fehlzeitenreport 2015. Krankheits- und unfallbedingte Fehlzeiten in Österreich," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 58508.
    7. Christian Kronborg & Gitte Handberg & Flemming Axelsen, 2009. "Health care costs, work productivity and activity impairment in non-malignant chronic pain patients," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 10(1), pages 5-13, February.
    8. Luís Azevedo & Altamiro Costa-Pereira & Liliane Mendonça & Cláudia Dias & José Castro-Lopes, 2016. "The economic impact of chronic pain: a nationwide population-based cost-of-illness study in Portugal," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 17(1), pages 87-98, January.
    9. Drummond, Michael F. & Sculpher, Mark J. & Claxton, Karl & Stoddart, Greg L. & Torrance, George W., 2015. "Methods for the Economic Evaluation of Health Care Programmes," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 4, number 9780199665884.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Valentin Brodszky & Zsuzsanna Beretzky & Petra Baji & Fanni Rencz & Márta Péntek & Alexandru Rotar & Konstantin Tachkov & Susanne Mayer & Judit Simon & Maciej Niewada & Rok Hren & László Gulácsi, 2019. "Cost-of-illness studies in nine Central and Eastern European countries," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(1), pages 155-172, June.
    2. Bugge, Christoffer & Sæther, Erik Magnus & Brustugun, Odd Terje & Kristiansen, Ivar Sønbø, 2021. "Societal cost of cancer in Norway –Results of taking a broader cost perspective," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(8), pages 1100-1107.
    3. Zuzana Špacírová & David Epstein & Leticia García-Mochón & Joan Rovira & Antonio Olry de Labry Lima & Jaime Espín, 2020. "A general framework for classifying costing methods for economic evaluation of health care," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(4), pages 529-542, June.
    4. Alemayehu Hailu & Bernt Lindtjørn & Wakgari Deressa & Taye Gari & Eskindir Loha & Bjarne Robberstad, 2017. "Economic burden of malaria and predictors of cost variability to rural households in south-central Ethiopia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(10), pages 1-16, October.
    5. Simon Deeming & Kim Edmunds & Alice Knight & Andrew Searles & Anthony P. Shakeshaft & Christopher M. Doran, 2022. "A Benefit-Cost Analysis of BackTrack, a Multi-Component, Community-Based Intervention for High-Risk Young People in a Rural Australian Setting," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-12, August.
    6. Rebecca Addo & Samuel Agyei Agyemang & Yesim Tozan & Justice Nonvignon, 2018. "Economic burden of caregiving for persons with severe mental illness in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(8), pages 1-12, August.
    7. Dominik Grega & Jozef Kolář, 2019. "Historical analysis of pharmacoeconomic terms," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(3), pages 1643-1654, June.
    8. Tóthová Dominika, 2020. "Respiratory Diseases in Children and Air Pollution – The Cost of – Illness Assessment in Ostrava City," Central European Journal of Public Policy, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 43-56, June.
    9. Irina Pokhilenko & Luca M. M. Janssen & Aggie T. G. Paulus & Ruben M. W. A. Drost & William Hollingworth & Joanna C. Thorn & Sian Noble & Judit Simon & Claudia Fischer & Susanne Mayer & Luis Salvador-, 2023. "Development of an Instrument for the Assessment of Health-Related Multi-sectoral Resource Use in Europe: The PECUNIA RUM," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 155-166, March.
    10. Chiranjeev Sanyal & Don Husereau, 2020. "Systematic Review of Economic Evaluations of Services Provided by Community Pharmacists," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 375-392, June.
    11. Joanna M Charles & Deirdre M Harrington & Melanie J Davies & Charlotte L Edwardson & Trish Gorely & Danielle H Bodicoat & Kamlesh Khunti & Lauren B Sherar & Thomas Yates & Rhiannon Tudor Edwards, 2019. "Micro-costing and a cost-consequence analysis of the ‘Girls Active’ programme: A cluster randomised controlled trial," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(8), pages 1-17, August.
    12. Andrew J. Mirelman & Miqdad Asaria & Bryony Dawkins & Susan Griffin & Richard Cookson & Peter Berman, 2020. "Fairer Decisions, Better Health for All: Health Equity and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Paul Revill & Marc Suhrcke & Rodrigo Moreno-Serra & Mark Sculpher (ed.), Global Health Economics Shaping Health Policy in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, chapter 4, pages 99-132, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    13. Christopher M Doran & Irina Kinchin, 2020. "Economic and epidemiological impact of youth suicide in countries with the highest human development index," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(5), pages 1-11, May.
    14. Boniface Oyugi & Olena Nizalova & Sally Kendall & Stephen Peckham, 2024. "Does a free maternity policy in Kenya work? Impact and cost–benefit consideration based on demographic health survey data," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 25(1), pages 77-89, February.
    15. Muchandifunga Trust Muchadeyi & Karla Hernandez-Villafuerte & Gian Luca Tanna & Rachel D. Eckford & Yan Feng & Michela Meregaglia & Tessa Peasgood & Stavros Petrou & Jasper Ubels & Michael Schlander, 2024. "Quality Appraisal in Systematic Literature Reviews of Studies Eliciting Health State Utility Values: Conceptual Considerations," PharmacoEconomics, Springer, vol. 42(7), pages 767-782, July.
    16. Lili Wang & Lei Si & Fiona Cocker & Andrew J. Palmer & Kristy Sanderson, 2018. "A Systematic Review of Cost-of-Illness Studies of Multimorbidity," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 15-29, February.
    17. Etienne Nédellec & Judith Pineau & Patrice Prognon & Nicolas Martelli, 2018. "Level of Evidence in Economic Evaluations of Left Atrial Appendage Closure Devices: A Systematic Review," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 16(6), pages 793-802, December.
    18. Qi Cao & Erik Buskens & Hans L. Hillege & Tiny Jaarsma & Maarten Postma & Douwe Postmus, 2019. "Stratified treatment recommendation or one-size-fits-all? A health economic insight based on graphical exploration," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(3), pages 475-482, April.
    19. Apiradee Nantsupawat & Orn‐Anong Wichaikhum & Kulwadee Abhicharttibutra & Wipada Kunaviktikul & Mohd Said Bin Nurumal & Lusine Poghosyan, 2020. "Nurses' knowledge of health literacy, communication techniques, and barriers to the implementation of health literacy programs: A cross‐sectional study," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(3), pages 577-585, September.
    20. Hensher, Martin & Canny, Ben & Zimitat, Craig & Campbell, Julie & Palmer, Andrew, 2020. "Health care, overconsumption and uneconomic growth: A conceptual framework," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0213889. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.