Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30893370›Full record

ArticlePloS one2019

The societal costs of chronic pain and its determinants: The case of Austria.

Susanne Mayer, Jonah Spickschen, K Viktoria Stein, Richard Crevenna, Thomas E Dorner, Judit Simon

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
30citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
9.1field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

30 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 86 citations in OpenAlex.

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  20. Unit Costs in Health Economic Evaluations: Quo Vadis, Austria?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Susanne MayerDepartment of Health Economics, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.ORCID 0000-0002-4448-0478
Jonah SpickschenDepartment of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
K Viktoria SteinInternational Foundation for Integrated Care, Wolfson College, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Richard CrevennaDepartment of Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation and Occupational Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Thomas E DornerDepartment of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Judit SimonDepartment of Health Economics, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Medical University of Vienna · ATInternational Foundation for Integrated Care · GBLudwig Boltzmann Institute Applied Diagnostics · AT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundChronic pain is among the most burdensome conditions. Its prevalence ranges between 12% and 30% in Europe, with an estimated 21% among Austrian adults. The economic impact of chronic pain from a societal perspective, however, has not been sufficiently researched. This study aims to provide an estimate of the societal costs for working-age adults with chronic pain in Austria. It explores the impact of sex, number of pain sites, self-reported pain severity, health literacy and private health insurance on costs associated with chronic pain.

methodsA bottom-up cost-of-illness study was conducted based on data collected from 54 adult patients with chronic pain at three Viennese hospital outpatient departments. Information on healthcare costs including out-of-pocket expenses and productivity losses due to absenteeism and informal care were collected over 12 months. Resource use estimates were combined with unit costs and mean costs per patient were calculated in € for year 2016.

resultsMean annual societal costs were estimated at EUR 10191. Direct medical costs were EUR 5725 including EUR 1799 out-of-pocket expenses (mainly pain relieving activities and private therapy). Productivity losses including informal care amounted to EUR 4466. Total costs for women and patients with three or more pain sites were significantly higher. No association with health literacy was found but there was a tendency towards higher out-of-pocket expenses for patients with complementary private health insurance.

conclusionThis study is the first to provide a comprehensive assessment of the individual and societal burden of chronic pain in Austria. It highlights that chronic pain is associated with substantial direct medical costs and productivity losses. Patient costs may show systematic differences by health insurance status, implying a need for future research in this area.

Indexed as

AbsenteeismAdultAgedAustriaChronic PainCost of IllnessEfficiencyEuropeFemaleHealth Care CostsHealth ExpendituresHealth ResourcesHumansInsurance, HealthMaleMiddle Aged

Identifiers

PMID30893370
PMCPMC6426226
OpenAlexW2925085490

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.