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Economic and Humanistic Burden of External Genital Warts

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Abstract

External genital warts (EGW) are a sexually transmitted infection caused by various strains of human papillomavirus (HPV). Several studies have described the direct and indirect costs of EGW, while others have reported on the burden of EGW in terms of the impact on the quality of life (QOL) of patients. The arrival of a quadrivalent HPV vaccine that protects against both cervical cancer and EGW requires a proper understanding of the impact of vaccines on costs and QOL. Using pre-defined search terms and inclusion/exclusion criteria, we performed a systematic review of the economic and humanistic burden of EGW. The focus of our review was on literature describing the direct and indirect costs of EGW per episode of care (EoC) or peryear, as well as the impact of EGW on disease-specific, generic, or preference-based QOL measures. We also reviewed the literature on the national economic burden of EGW from the perspectives of different countries. Other aspects of EGW management that can inform economic modelling studies, such as length of EoC, number of physician visits and indirect costs, were also explored. Our review sheds light on the high economic and humanistic burden of EGW and important differences in the costs between men and women, as well as the differences in health resource utilization and costs across countries. Our study also highlights the dearth of information on the impact of EGW on the QOL and productivity of patients.

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Acknowledgements

No sources of funding were specifically used to conduct this study or prepare this manuscript. The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article.

Adam Raymakers is supported through a grant from the National Sanitorium Association. Dr Mohsen Sadatsafavi is supported by a Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) fellowship award. Dr Carlo Marra is supported by a Canada Research Chair in Pharmaceutical Outcomes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Collaboration for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Adam J. N. Raymakers, Mohsen Sadatsafavi &  Carlo A. Marra

  2. Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2146 East Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada

    Fawziah Marra &  Carlo A. Marra

  3. Vaccine and Pharmacy Services, BC Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Fawziah Marra

  4. Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcomes Sciences, Providence Health Care Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Carlo A. Marra

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  1. Adam J. N. Raymakers
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Correspondence to Carlo A. Marra.

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Raymakers, A.J.N., Sadatsafavi, M., Marra, F. et al. Economic and Humanistic Burden of External Genital Warts. PharmacoEconomics 30, 1–16 (2012). https://doi.org/10.2165/11591170-000000000-00000

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