Abstract
Purpose
The literature includes a wealth of medical data on endometriosis, but the economic significance of the condition has so far been neglected. An analysis of hospital costs for endometriosis in Austria was, therefore, carried out for economic purposes.
Methods
Seventy-three patients with endometriosis were included in the study. A bottom-up approach was used to collect data on the average hospital costs of an endometriosis patient over a time period of 1 year. In addition, a prevalence approach was used that allows subsequent estimation of the total costs of endometriosis for the health-care system in Austria for that period. Retrospective questionnaire survey was conducted.
Results
The average annual costs of one case of endometriosis are €7,712, with €5,605.55 attributable to direct costs and €2,106.34 to indirect costs. This indicates an overall economic burden of €328 million. In-patient care (45 %) and loss of productivity (27 %) were identified as the major cost factors. The patients themselves pay for 13 % of the costs (through out-of-pocket payments).
Conclusions
This study impressively demonstrates the financial burden on the economy and on each individually affected patient caused by the disease of endometriosis. The massive consumption of resources represents a high level of usage of the medical services provided. The question arises as to whether more timely diagnosis, followed by better-targeted treatment, might have the potential to reduce these costs. The overall economic burden of endometriosis in Austria is currently comparable with that of Parkinson’s disease.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- EVA:
-
Endometriose Vereinigung Austria (Austrian Endometriosis Association)
- GnRH:
-
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone
- ICD:
-
International Classification of Diseases
- ICSI:
-
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection
- IUI:
-
Intrauterine insemination
- IVF:
-
In vitro fertilization
References
Björnberg A, Garrofé BC, Lindblad S. Euro Health Consumer Index 2009 (2009) Danderyd, Sweden: Health Consumer Powerhouse. Available online at: http://www.healthpowerhouse.com/files/Report%20EHCI%202009%20091005%20final%20with%20cover.pdf. Accessed 14 Dec 2012
Endometriose Schweppe K (2003) Eine Erkrankung ohne Lobby. Zentralbl Gynäkol. 125:233
Statistik Austria. Available online at: http://www.statistik.at. Accessed 12 Aug 2011)
Brandes I, Kleine-Budde K, Mittendorf T (2009) Krankheitskosten bei Endometriose. Geburtshilfe Frauenheilkd 69:925–930
European Institute of Women’s Health. Women’s health In Europe: facts and figures across the European Union. Available online at: http://www.eurohealth.ie/pdf/WomenshealthinEurope_FINALpdf. Accessed 8 Sept 2011)
Hudelist G, Fritzer N, Thomas A, Niehues C, Oppelt P, Haas D et al (2012) Diagnostic delay for endometriosis in Austria and Germany: causes and possible consequences. Hum Reprod 27:3412–3416
Gao X, Outley J, Botteman M, Spalding J, Simon J, Pashos C (2006) Economic burden of endometriosis. Fertil Steril 86:1561–1572
Simoens S, Hummelshoj L, D’Hooghe T (2007) Endometriosis: cost estimates and methodological perspective. Hum Reprod Update 14:395–404
Ruschitzka A, Scheuringer M. DIAG-Extranet database. Available online at: http://www.hauptverband.at. Accessed 3 Aug 2011
Bundesministerium für Gesundheit. Available online at: http://www.bmg.gv.at. Accessed 24 Jun 2011
Öffentliches Gesundheitsportal Österreich. Gesundheitsleistungen—Was kostet der Spitalsaufenthalt? Available online at: https://www.gesundheit.gv.at. Accessed 14 Jun 2011
Hauptverband der österreichischen Sozialversicherungsträger. Available online at: http://www.sozialversicherung.at. Accessed 3 August 2011
Greiner W (2008) Die Berechnung von Kosten und Nutzen. In: Schöffski O, Graf von der Schulenburg JM (eds). Gesundheitsökonomische Evaluationen. Springer, Berlin, pp 49–63
Graf von der Schulenburg JM, Greiner W, Jost R, Klusen N, Kubin M, Leidl R et al (2007) Deutsche Empfehlung zur gesundheitsökonomischen Evaluation: Dritte und aktualisierte Fassung des Hannoveraner Konsens. Gesundh Ökon Qual Manag. 12:285–290
Campenhausen S, Winter Y, Gasser J, Seppi K, Reese J, Pfeiffer K et al (2009) Krankheitskosten und Versorgungssituation bei Morbus Parkinson—eine Analyse in Österreich. Wien Klin Wochenschr 121:574–582 [Article in German]
Levy AR, Osenenko KM, Lozano-Ortega G, Sambrook R, Jeddi M, Bélisle S et al (2011) Economic burden of surgically confirmed endometriosis in Canada. J Obstet Gynaecol Can 33:830–837
Simoens S, Dunselman G, Dirksen C, Hummelshoj L, Bokor A, Brandes I et al (2012) The burden of endometriosis: costs and quality of life of women with endometriosis and treated in referral centres. Hum Reprod 27:1292–1299
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Ms Steinberger, MA, and Ms Hofmeister of the managing committee of the Austrian Endometriosis Association (Endometriose Vereinigung Austria, EVA) for their assistance. Furthermore, the authors would like to thank the following institutions for providing support: General Hospital Linz, Endometriosis competence center; University of Innsbruck, Department for Endocrinology and Reproductive Medizin; LKH Villach, Endometriosis competence center; Wilheminenspital Vienna, Department for Gynecology and Obstetrics and University of Salzburg, Department for Gynecology and Obstetrics. No financial support was provided to this article
Conflict of interest
The authors hereby state that there were no conflicts of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Prast, J., Oppelt, P., Shamiyeh, A. et al. Costs of endometriosis in Austria: a survey of direct and indirect costs. Arch Gynecol Obstet 288, 569–576 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-013-2793-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-013-2793-0