Cost-of-illness studies are descriptive studies that value in economic terms the costs of
a particular health problem, which enables the economic burden of the problem to be
estimated. It hence provides a holistic view of the overall burden of a particular disease
on society, given current treatment alternatives. Cost-of-illness studies also identify
how costs are allocated between for example the health care sector, the individual, the
family and others, and their relative sizes. This information can highlight areas where
costs can be saved or inefficiencies reduced and is practical information to guide
funding decisions and policy-making (Ament and Evers, 1993).
An additional advantage with cost-of-illness studies is that it can act as a building block
in a subsequent economic evaluation. This means that in an evaluation, the change in
direct costs and indirect costs of an intervention or a program would be weighted
against the change in health effects (Ekman et al., 2005).
As mentioned in the beginning, cost-of-illness studies are one of the cornerstones of
the discipline of health economics. However, they have raised much criticism on both
methodological grounds and for being doubtful value for policy-making purposes. The
reason is that cost-of-illness studies are not considered full economic evaluations
because they do not assess actions to address the problem. Another criticism is that
they are ineffective use of resources because they do not provide enough information
to identify inefficiency or waste since no comparisons between different treatments
are being applied. From a policy-making perspective, economic evaluations would be
more valuable since it asses both costs and health effects of single medical
interventions or healthcare programs (Ament and Evers, 1993; Ekman et al., 2005).
Cost-of-illness studies are descriptive studies that value in economic terms the costs ofa particular health problem, which enables the economic burden of the problem to beestimated. It hence provides a holistic view of the overall burden of a particular diseaseon society, given current treatment alternatives. Cost-of-illness studies also identifyhow costs are allocated between for example the health care sector, the individual, thefamily and others, and their relative sizes. This information can highlight areas wherecosts can be saved or inefficiencies reduced and is practical information to guidefunding decisions and policy-making (Ament and Evers, 1993).An additional advantage with cost-of-illness studies is that it can act as a building blockin a subsequent economic evaluation. This means that in an evaluation, the change indirect costs and indirect costs of an intervention or a program would be weightedagainst the change in health effects (Ekman et al., 2005).As mentioned in the beginning, cost-of-illness studies are one of the cornerstones ofthe discipline of health economics. However, they have raised much criticism on bothmethodological grounds and for being doubtful value for policy-making purposes. Thereason is that cost-of-illness studies are not considered full economic evaluationsbecause they do not assess actions to address the problem. Another criticism is thatthey are ineffective use of resources because they do not provide enough informationto identify inefficiency or waste since no comparisons between different treatmentsare being applied. From a policy-making perspective, economic evaluations would bemore valuable since it asses both costs and health effects of single medicalinterventions or healthcare programs (Ament and Evers, 1993; Ekman et al., 2005).
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