 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Li Yan Wang, MBA, MA1, Yuna Zhong, MD, MSPH1, and Lani S. M. Wheeler, MD, FAAP, FASHA2. (1) DASH, NCCDPHP, CDC, 4770 Buford Hwy, MS K-33, Chamblee, GA 30341, 770 488-6195, lgw0@cdc.gov, (2) Anne Arundel County Department of Health, 163 Cranes Crook Lane, Annapolis, MD 21401-7267
Background: Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood, and is the most common cause of school absenteeism due to chronic conditions.
Objective: To estimate direct and indirect costs of asthma in school-aged children.
Method: Using data from the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, we estimated direct medical costs and school absence days among school-aged children who had a diagnosis of asthma during 1996. We estimated indirect costs as costs of lost productivity including caretakers’ time lost from work and lifetime earnings lost due to premature death. Both national and per capita estimates were calculated, and all costs were in 1996 dollars.
Results: In 1996, an estimated 2.52 million children aged 5-17 years had diagnosed asthma. Direct medical expenditure was $767.9 million ($304.5 per child with asthma), including payments for prescribed medicine, hospital inpatient stay, hospital outpatient care, emergency room, and office-based visits. Children with asthma had a total of 14.1 million school absence days, asthma accounts for 6.4 million absence days (2.54 days per child with asthma). Caretakers’ lost productivity was $629.8 million dollars ($249.9 per child with asthma). A total of 211 children died of asthma during 1996, accounts for $248.4 million lifetime earnings lost ($98.6 per child with asthma). Total economic impact of asthma in school-aged children was $1.6 billion ($653.0 per child with asthma).
Conclusion: The economic impact of asthma to school-aged children, families, and society are immense, more public health efforts to better control asthma in children are needed.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Asthma, Economic Analysis
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.