Gesundheitsökonomische Aspekte der Versorgung der Multiplen Sklerose

With the rapid international spread of interventions, there is a need to understand the economic implications of these changes and to interpret these economic implications on the international level. The purpose of this study is to systematically compare total health care expenditures on stroke, the costs of stroke per capita, and the distribution of stroke costs within different countries, with special attention to the allocation of resources among different health care facilities. Studies for this literature review were selected by conducting a literature search from January 1966 to July 2003. Key methodological, country-related, and monetary issues of the selected stroke cost studies were evaluated using a checklist. After selection, 25 stroke cost studies were reviewed. Although the selected cost of illness studies used different methodologies, the estimated expenditures for stroke are approximately similar. The proportion of national health care in the 8 countries studied is unequivocal for the more recent studies, ie, approximately 3% of total health care expenditures. A shift is observed from the inpatient treatment costs (in the first year) toward outpatient treatment and long-term care costs (in the latter years). Furthermore, it is remarkable that in the studies, little attention is paid to costs borne by the patient and family or to the costs of comorbidity. This study highlights the importance of studying the economic consequences of stroke and of interpreting the results on the international level. The results of stroke cost studies provide insight into the distribution of the costs of stroke and the impact of stroke on the national expenditure on health care.

The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study is designed to give a comprehensive and standardized assessment of the health of populations around the world. It measures the burden of disease by considering years of life lost due to premature death as well as years lived with disability. The findings enable the identification of secular trends and disparities between countries and can serve as a basis for decision-making in health policy.

The purpose of this investigation was to compare self-reported health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in epilepsy compared to another neurological condition or a non-neurological chronic illness. Patients with epilepsy (N = 271), multiple sclerosis (N = 85) and diabetes (N = 555) completed a generic measure of HRQOL (RAND 36-Item Health Survey 1.0 (SF-36)), and the eight SF-36 scale scores were compared across groups, adjusting for differences in sociodemographic characteristics and co-morbid medical conditions. Patients with multiple sclerosis reported significantly worse HRQOL compared to both the epilepsy and diabetes groups (who did not differ from one another) on the Physical Functioning, Role Limitations-Physical, Energy, and Social Function scales. Patients with epilepsy and multiple sclerosis did not differ from one another but reported significantly lower HRQOL scores than the diabetes group on the Emotional Well-Being and Role Limitations-Emotional scales. However, the epilepsy group reported better health perceptions compared to the diabetes and multiple sclerosis patients. Generic measures of HRQOL appear useful in identifying some effects of neurological disease, but disease-targeted supplements may be required to more clearly identify the impact of epilepsy on quality of life.