The Economic Costs of Childhood Disability: A Literature Review

Abstract

Background: This literature review investigates the economic costs of childhood disability analysing methodologies used and summarizing the burden worldwide comparing developed and developing countries. Methods: Four electronic databases were searched. Studies were categorised according to country, perspective, methods of costing, disability category, and time horizon. Annual costs were converted to 2019 current US dollars then compared to the country’s per capita current health expenditure (CHE) and gross domestic product (GDP). Results: Of 2468 references identified, 20 were included in the review. Annual burden of childhood disability ranged ≈$450–69,500 worldwide. Childhood disability imposes a heavy economic burden on families, health systems, and societies. The reason for the wide range of costs is the variability in perspective, costs included, methods, and disability type. Conclusion: The annual societal costs for one disabled child could be up to the country’s GDP per capita. The burden is heavier on households in developing countries as most of the costs are paid out-of-pocket leading to impoverishment of the whole family. Efforts should be directed to avoid preventable childhood disabilities and to support disabled children and their households to make them more independent and increase their productivity. More studies from developing countries are needed.

Evaluating a Low-Cost Technology to Enable People with Intellectual Disability or Psychiatric Disorders to Initiate and Perform Functional Daily Activities

“…The positive impact of implementing effective rehabilitation programs supported by assistive/mainstream technologies, however, goes far beyond improving the participation opportunities of individual users [40]. Indeed, there is a well-established link between caregiving for a person with disability and reduced caregivers' health (e.g., psychological and physical stress) as well as direct and indirect costs such as healthcare, hospital and transportation expenses, caregivers' loss of working days and earnings, and in general inability for caregivers to maintain a stable employment (for a recent review see [41]). Evidence shows that assistive products can help caregivers by reducing time, levels of assistance and energy put towards caregiving, anxiety and fear, task difficulty, safety risk-particularly for activities requiring physical assistance (e.g., dressing, transferring, toileting, and general mobility)-as well as increasing the independence of the user [42].…”

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“…Ezek között a dimenziók között a háztartási kiadások is gyakran megjelennek. Valamennyi vonatkozó tanulmány arról számol be, hogy a fogyatékossággal élő gyerekek családjai jelentős és alapvető pénzügyi-gazdasági hátrányokkal néznek szembe -ideértve a direkt kiadásokat a családi kasszából és az indirekt költségeket, mint például a csökkent munkaerőpiaci részvé teli lehetőségek -még az univerzális egészségügyi, oktatási, szociális és közszolgáltatásokat biztosító országokban is (Shahat -Greco 2021). Ezekben a kutatásokban tulajdonképpen azt a kérdést teszik fel, hogy mekkora a gyerek fogyatékosságának "költsége": melyek azok a (többlet)kiadásai a családoknak, amelyek közvetetten vagy közvetlenül a gyerek fogyatékosságához köthetők és magyarázhatják a családok státuskülönbségeit.…”

Accelerating progress on early childhood development for children under 5 years with disabilities by 2030

“…39 In addition, the financial implications of the failure to take appropriate and timely action are considerable because childhood disability imposes a substantial economic effect on families, health-care systems, and societies. 40 The annual costs of childhood disability worldwide are estimated at US$450–69 500. The lifetime costs per child ranges from approximately $41 000 to $4 300 000, worldwide.…”