Abstract
Objective
The aim of this study was to determine the economic burden from a societal perspective and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) in Europe.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional study of patients with PWS from Spain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Italy, the UK, Sweden and France. Data on demographic characteristics, healthcare resource utilisation, informal care, labour productivity losses and HRQOL were collected from questionnaires completed by patients or their caregivers. HRQOL was measured with the EuroQol 5-domain (EQ-5D) questionnaire.
Results
A total of 261 patients completed the questionnaire. The average annual costs ranged from € 3937 to € 67,484 between countries; the reference year for unit prices was 2012. Direct healthcare costs ranged from € 311 to € 18,760, direct non-healthcare costs ranged from € 1269 to € 44,035, and loss of labour productivity ranged from € 0 to € 2255. Costs were also shown to differ between children and adults. The mean EQ-5D index score for adult PWS patients ranged between 0.40 and 0.81 and the mean EQ-5D visual analogue scale score ranged between 51.25 and 90.00.
Conclusion
The main strengths of this study lie in our bottom-up approach to costing and in the evaluation of PWS patients from a broad societal perspective. This type of analysis is very scarce in the international literature on rare diseases in comparison with other illnesses. We conclude that PWS patients incur considerable societal costs and experience substantial deterioration in HRQOL.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank: National Alliance of People with Rare Diseases (NAPRD), Bulgaria; Alliance Maladies Rares, France; ACHSE, Germany; Hungarian Federation of People with Rare and Congenital Diseases (RIROSZ), Hungary; Federazione Italiana Malattie Rare (UNIAMO), Italy; the Consulta Nazionale delle Malattie Rare, Italy; Rare Diseases Sweden; Federación Española de Enfermedades Raras (FEDER), Spain; Rare Disease UK and Rare Diseases Europe (EURORDIS); Association Prader-Willi France; Prader Willi Syndrom Vereinigung Deutschland e.V., Germany; Klub a Prader-Willi Gyermekekért, Hungary; F.A.P.W. Federazione fra le associazioni per l’aiuto sai soggetti con la sindrome di Prader Willi e le loro famiglie, Italy; Asociación Española para el Síndrome de Prader-Willi and Asociación Valenciana, Catalana y Andaluza de Prader Willi, Spain; Prader-Willi Syndrome Association, UK.
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Supported by the Social/Economic Burden and Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Rare Diseases in Europe Project, which received funding from the European Union within the framework of the Health Programme [grant A101205]. The Executive Agency of the European Union is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.
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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
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López-Bastida, J., Linertová, R., Oliva-Moreno, J. et al. Social/economic costs and health-related quality of life in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome in Europe. Eur J Health Econ 17 (Suppl 1), 99–108 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-016-0788-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-016-0788-z