[Bronchial asthma--a cost of illness analysis]

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Pulmonology
• Public Health

Background:

• Asthma imposes significant financial burdens on individuals and healthcare systems.
• Understanding the economic impact is crucial for resource allocation and policy development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the total economic costs of asthma in Germany.
• To differentiate between direct medical expenditures and indirect costs associated with asthma.

Main Methods:

• Utilized official health statistics from 1992 for cost estimation.
• Calculated direct costs (medical care, drugs, hospitalizations, rehabilitation, benefits) and indirect costs (absenteeism, premature retirement, mortality).

Main Results:

• Total estimated cost of asthma in Germany was approximately 2.66 billion ECU (5.13 billion DM / 3.11 billion US$) for a population of 80.3 million.
• Direct costs constituted 61.5% of the total, while indirect costs accounted for 38.5%.

Conclusions:

• Asthma represents a major economic challenge in Germany.
• Implementing optimized asthma management strategies, aligned with established guidelines, has the potential to decrease substantial indirect economic losses.