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Cost of disorders of the brain in Italy

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate the cost of “brain” disorders in Italy. Country-specific prevalence and health-economic data on addiction, affective, anxiety and psychotic disorders, tumours, dementia, epilepsy, migraine/other headaches, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, stroke and head trauma were reviewed. Direct medical/non-medical and indirect costs were computed. Population-based samples and national or regional registries were used. The Italian population expected with a brain disorder was 12.4 million in 2004. The highest cost per case was for tumours and multiple sclerosis; the lowest was for anxiety disorders and migraine. Dementia (€8.6 billion), psychotic and affective disorders (€18.7 billion), migraine (€3.5 billion) and stroke (€3.4 billion) represented the highest total costs. Direct medical costs were predominant for psychiatric and neurosurgical disorders, direct non-medical costs for dementia, and indirect costs for neurological disorders. The total cost of brain disorders in Italy was €40.8 billion, 3% of the gross national product, and €706 per Italian citizen/year. This figure is however likely to be underestimated as it is based on retrospective methodology and samples of brain disorders, and does not include intangible costs.

Sommario

Obbiettivi

Stimare il costo delle “malattie del cervello” in Italia.

Disegno

Dati epidemiologici ed economici specifici della nostra popolazione sono stati raccolti dalla letteratura per dipendenza da droga ed alcol, disturbi affettivi, psicotici e ansia, tumori cerebrali, demenza, epilessia, emicrania/altre cefalee, sclerosi multipla, M. Parkinson, ictus e traumi cranici. I costi diretti medici/non medici e quegli indiretti sono stati calcolati.

Setting

Campioni di popolazione e registri nazionali o regionali.

Metodi e Risultati

Le stime indicano che 12.4 milioni di Italiani erano affetti da una di queste patologie nel 2004. I costi più elevati per paziente sono stati ricavati per tumori cerebrali e sclerosi multipla, i più bassi per il disturbo d’ansia e l’emicrania. Demenza (8.6 miliardi), disturbo psicotico/affettivo (18.7 miliardi), emicrania (3.5 miliardi) ed ictus cerebrale (3.4 miliardi) rappresentano i costi totali più elevati. I costi diretti medici sono predominanti per le patologie psichiatriche e neurochirurgiche, i costi diretti non medici per la demenza, ed i costi indiretti per altre malattie neurologiche.

Conclusioni

Il costo totale delle “malattie del cervello” in Italia è di 40.8 miliardi, il 3% del prodotto nazionale lordo, e 706 per cittadino Italiano/anno. Questo valore è tuttavia sicuramente sottostimato, in relazione all’utilizzo di una metodologia retrospettiva, di un piccolo campione di queste patologie, e non include i costi intangibili.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Neuroscienze e Scienze Materno-Infantili, Università di Sassari, Viale San Pietro 10, 07100, Sassari, Italy

    Maura Pugliatti & Giulio Rosati

  2. Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Patrik Sobocki

  3. Istituto “Mario Negri”, Milan, Italy

    Ettore Beghi

  4. Dipartimento di Psichiatria, Neurobiologia, Farmacologia e Biotecnologia, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Stefano Pini & Giovanni B. Cassano

  5. Dipartimento di Psichiatria Ospedale “L. Sacco”, Università di Milano, Milan, Italy

    A. Carlo Altamura & Sara Pozzoli

Authors
  1. Maura Pugliatti
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  2. Patrik Sobocki
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  3. Ettore Beghi
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  4. Stefano Pini
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  5. Giovanni B. Cassano
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  6. A. Carlo Altamura
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  7. Sara Pozzoli
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  8. Giulio Rosati
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maura Pugliatti.

Additional information

On behalf of the “Cost of Disorders of the Brain in Europe” Study Group. For names see Ref. [1].

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Pugliatti, M., Sobocki, P., Beghi, E. et al. Cost of disorders of the brain in Italy. Neurol Sci 29, 99–107 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-008-0868-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-008-0868-7

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