The burden of hepatitis C in Europe from the patients’ perspective: a survey in 5 countries

BMC Gastroenterology

Antoine C El Khoury³  Girish Prajapati¹  Jeffrey Vietri² 

[1] AllSource PPS, Long Beach, CA, USA;Health Outcomes Practice, Kantar Health, Independence Way Suite 220, Princeton, NJ, USA;Merck & Co., West Point, PA, USA

关键词: Health status;    Costs;    Work impairment;    Presenteeism;    Absenteeism;    Hepatitis C virus;   

Others  :  858217
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-230X-13-16

 received in 2012-05-29, accepted in 2013-01-09,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

Few studies have examined the impact of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection on patient reported outcomes in Europe. This study was conducted to assess the burden of HCV infection in terms of work productivity loss, activity impairment, health-related quality of life, healthcare resource utilization, and associated costs.

Methods

The 2010 European National Health and Wellness Survey (n = 57,805) provided data. Patients reporting HCV infection in France, Germany, the UK, Italy, and Spain were matched to respondents without HCV using propensity scores. Outcome measures included the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI) questionnaire and the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-12 (SF-12v2) questionnaire. Subgroup analyses focused on treatment-naïve patients.

Results

HCV Patients (n = 286) had more work impairment (30% vs. 18%, p < .001), more impairment in non-work activities (34% vs. 28%, p < .05), and more annual physician visits per patient (19.8 vs. 13.3, p < .001). Estimated indirect and direct costs were €2,956 (p < .01) and €495 (p < .001) higher than in matched controls, respectively. Health-related quality of life was also lower among HCV patients. Treatment-naïve HCV patients (n = 139) also reported higher work impairment (29% vs. 15%, p < .01), as well as more frequent physician visits (19.5 vs. 12.1, p < .01) than matched controls. Each treatment-naïve HCV infected patient incurred €934 in direct costs vs. €508 (p < .01 in matched controls. Employed treatment-naïve patients reported higher productivity loss per year compared to matched controls (€6,414 vs. €3,642, p < .05).

Conclusion

HCV infection in Europe is associated with considerable economic and humanistic burden. This is also true of diagnosed patients who have never been treated for HCV.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Vietri et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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