Economic and social cost of epilepsy in Poland: 5-year analysis

Trends in resource utilization and cost of illness in patients with active epilepsy in Germany from 2003 to 2020

“…29 In contrast to the lack of COI studies conducted with a bottom-up method, several studies based on insurance data have used a topdown approach. [30][31][32] This development is regrettable, because the top-down approach, although easier to implement, is methodologically inferior to the bottom-up approach, as indirect costs are underestimated in the topdown method. 18,33 The calculated costs also seem comparable in view of studies on patients with other chronic diseases associated with epilepsy or epilepsy syndromes, such as tuberous sclerosis complex (€1650 per month) 34,35 ; however, costs calculated in this study were significantly lower than costs of other chronic neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS; €3358 per month) and developmental and epileptic encephalopathies such as Dravet syndrome (DS; €3819 per month).…”

“…46 In line with our findings, a methodologically comparable COI study from Austria, whose health care system is comparable to Germany's, determined unemployment to be a cost-driving factor for total epilepsy-related costs. 47 Moreover, several other studies from Europe 31,48 and from countries outside of Europe with differently organized health care systems highlight the impact of productivity losses on indirect COI components for epilepsy patients. This is reflected in the current evaluation, in particular in the finding that the rate of patients retiring early due to epilepsy, at 18.5%, is by far higher than the general early retirement rate in Germany, which was stable at .9% in relation to the working-age population between 2018 and 2020.…”

“…Due to significant differences in health care systems, costs of living, and methodologies, epilepsy‐specific COIs from recent studies in Africa, India, and Asia do not seem to be comparable 29 . In contrast to the lack of COI studies conducted with a bottom‐up method, several studies based on insurance data have used a top‐down approach 30–32 . This development is regrettable, because the top‐down approach, although easier to implement, is methodologically inferior to the bottom‐up approach, as indirect costs are underestimated in the top‐down method 18,33 …”

Economic aspects of treating seizure clusters

“…8 In a Polish study, indirect costs of epilepsy, mostly from loss of employment time, constituted 80% of total costs. 9 The economic burden of epilepsy is greater when seizures are not controlled. For example, in a study of approximately 10 000 adult patients from a claims database, the overall cost of epilepsy-related medical care was $5511 per year for "stable" epilepsy and $12 399 per year for "uncontrolled" epilepsy.…”

“…Indirect costs, including loss of income by patients and caregivers, were reported to be thousands of dollars per year per patient in the United States 8 . In a Polish study, indirect costs of epilepsy, mostly from loss of employment time, constituted 80% of total costs 9 …”