La repercusión económica de las enfermedades crónicas: El coste de la epilepsia infantil en el año 2000

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: The economic cost of disease increases its repercussion on the patient and his or her family. The most prevalent diseases are the principal consumers of the health care budget of a country. Objectives: To quantify the economic impact of childhood epilepsy in Spain as a prototype of chronic disease and to analyze its most important components. Material and methods: Several neuropediatrics were asked to fill out a questionnaire that included data that has made it possible to calculate the direct (medical and non-medical) and indirect costs from the point of view of the society during the last twelve months of evolution of children under 14 years of age suffering controlled and uncontrolled epilepsy. Results: During the year 2000, the mean annual cost of children with controlled epilepsy was 334,143 pesetas and that of children with uncontrolled epilepsy was 848,105, that is, 2.7 times greater than the controlled one. The cost related to the prevalence of epilepsy in Spain for the year 2000 was approximately 11,500 million pesetas, the direct costs representing the largest percent of the total cost. Conclusions: The mean annual cost associated to childhood epilepsy is greater than that generated by asthma, atopic dermatitis and type I diabetes and less than that generated by cystic fibrosis, renal failure or AIDS. Knowing the distribution of the costs generated by a disease is a useful tool to improve health care intervention efficacy and to decrease the impact of the disease on the family.