Abstract
Background:
Asthma is a long-term condition responsible for substantial morbidity and health service utilization. Little is known of its impact on the everyday quality of life of patients over a sustained period of time or the true costs to the Health Service (NHS in the UK).
Aim:
A representative UK sample of people with asthma (aged 12–55) were monitored to assess the everyday impact of asthma on their lives, to estimate the costs of asthma to the NHS, and to assess potential cost predictors.
Method:
A prospective observational study started in 2003 with a one year follow-up. Practices involved in a previous UK wide audit study were stratified, randomly selected and invited to enrol and recruit 30 patients with asthma on BGAM step 2 or above. Data was collected in practice and via monthly telephone interview. Analysis determined NHS Costs and patient quality of life.
Results:
A total of 308 patients gave 2,838 monthly interviews. The mean monthly cost to the NHS (excluding medication costs) was £20.51 with a median of zero. Patients used their reliever medication a median of 6 days per month and a median of twice a day. There were strong significant associations of NHS cost with the number of days where normal activities were disrupted, and the frequency of reliever use (p < 0.0001). Younger individuals (aged 12 to 19) at BGAM steps 3 and 4 contributed significantly to higher costs compared with those aged 20 to 55. The derived model provided a means of estimating predicted costs according to characteristics of the patient with asthma.
Conclusion:
Hospitalisation is the driver for high NHS costs for individual patients, especially among younger adults and teenagers. Cost savings are likely if interventions to prevent hospitalisation are targeted at this age group.
Conflict of interest
None.
Acknowledgement
This project was sponsored and funded by a grant from GlaxoSmithKline (UK).
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Hoskins, G., Donnan, P., Neville, R. et al. ABS21: Cost of asthma to the health service: a UK prospective study. Prim Care Respir J 15, 191 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcrj.2006.04.123
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcrj.2006.04.123