ArticleClinicoEconomics and outcomes research : CEOR2013
A cost-of-illness study of spina bifida in Italy.
Article in ClinicoEconomics and outcomes research : CEOR, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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2 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevented cases of neural tube defects and cost savings after folic acid fortification of flour in Brazil.PloS one · 2023Article
- Cost of illness of urothelial bladder cancer in Italy.ClinicoEconomics and outcomes research : CEOR · 2017Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionSpina bifida (SB) is a congenital malformation of the spinal cord, nerves, and adjacent covering structures, with different levels of severity and functional disability. The economic cost of spina bifida and its prevention using folic acid have never been estimated in Italy. This study was conducted to define the cost of illness of SB in Italy.
methodsA retrospective multicenter observational study on the social cost of patients with SB was carried out in three SB centers in Italy. Cost data were collected relating to the 12 months preceding the enrollment time (T0), and subsequently 3 months after the T0 time (±20 days) through a case report form designed to collect the relevant information on the costs incurred during the period considered. The data for all patients were analyzed through multivariate analysis on the main parameters.
resultsWe enrolled 128 patients equally divided between males and females, with a mean age of 13 years (minimum, 0; maximum, 29). Diagnosis was mostly postnatal, with 64 cases diagnosed at birth and 33 cases diagnosed subsequently. The lesion severity levels, as defined in the inclusion criteria, were walking (52 patients); walking with simple orthoses (33 patients); walking with complex orthoses (16 patients); and nonwalking, (25 patients). The anatomic type identified is open SB in most cases (84 patients), followed by closed SB (37 patients) and SB occulta (3 patients). The most significant cost per year was for assistive devices, for a total of 4307.00 €, followed by hospitalization (907.00 €), examinations (592.00 €), and drug therapy (328.00 €). Cost breakdown by age range shows that the highest costs are incurred in the 0-4 age range. The highest cost was for cases of open SB (12,103.00 €). The cost/degree of severity ratio showed that the highest cost was for nonwalking patients (14,323.00 €), followed by patients walking with complex orthoses (13,799.00 €).
conclusionThe data from this study show that the mean total cost for a patient with SB was 11,351.00 € per year. Based on data provided by the Italian Institute of Health, we can estimate a total annual social cost of about 60 million Euros per year for SB in Italy. Cost of illness was correlated with age and degree of severity of SB.
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