The Burden of Arthritis and Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Treatment

The purpose of this literature review is to summarise data available from publications describing the burden of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis in Europe, and to highlight gaps in the literature. On the basis of extensive literature research, the epidemiology of arthritis, its treatment costs, and iatrogenic costs related to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) treatments are described, differentiating results by country. The review shows that, as well as having a significant impact on healthcare budgets, arthritis also affects patients and caregivers. For those countries where data were available, indirect costs were found to be of comparable magnitude to direct costs. Additionally, it was found that the iatrogenic costs related to the treatment of NSAID-induced adverse events are a significant component of the total costs of arthritis. The number of publications on the burden of arthritis in Europe is rather small in comparison with what is available for the US. Comparison of national results shows wide variations between countries, which may be partly due to discrepancies in the methodology applied to estimate the burden of arthritis, the cost items included in the analysis, and the data sources used to gather cost information. Additionally, comparing the burden of arthritis by country across Europe is difficult because of the variety of ways in which results are presented, e.g. on a per-patient basis, or for the whole population. To better understand the burden of illness of arthritis in Europe, not only is more research required, but the methodology to be applied in burden-of-illness analyses must also be standardised.