The burden of COPD in the U.S.A.: results from the confronting COPD survey

• Published in: Respiratory medicine Vol. 97; pp. S81 - S89
• Main Authors: Halpern, M.T., Stanford, R.H., Borker, R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-03-2003; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Absenteeism; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); comorbidity; Cost of Illness; direct costs; Female; Health Care Costs; Health Surveys; hospitalization; Humans; indirect costs; Male; Middle Aged; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Patient Compliance; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - diagnosis; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - economics; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - therapy; Reproducibility of Results; Respiratory System Agents - therapeutic use; survey; United States; USA; United States; direct costs; indirect costs; USA; comorbidity; hospitalization; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); survey
• ISSN: 0954-6111; 1532-3064
• DOI: 10.1016/S0954-6111(03)80028-8

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive disorder of airflow limitation that is not fully reversible, with disabling symptoms including chronic cough and dyspnoea. Although a number of studies in the U.S.A. have assessed the impact of COPD on the healthcare system and society, data on healthcare resource utilization (particularly outpatient services and medication use) in patients with mild to moderate COPD, or patients who meet symptom criteria for COPD but have not received this diagnosis, are limited or unavailable. To fill gaps in current knowledge about the impact of this disease, an economic analysis was conducted on the data collected from patients enrolled in the U.S.A. sample of
Confronting COPD in North America and Europe, the first large-scale international survey of the burden of the disease. The annual cost of healthcare resource utilization was estimated at US$41 19 per patient with COPD, with indirect (non-medical care) costs amounting to US$ 1527 per patient. The annual estimated societal cost was therefore US$5646 per patient. The majority of disease costs in the survey were associated with inpatient hospitalizations (US$2891 ). The results of the survey suggest that interventions that improve COPD outcomes by decreasing symptoms and preventing acute exacerbations could substantially decrease the costs associated with this disease.