Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T13:36:19.643Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

SKIN DISEASES CAUSED BY ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION: THE COST OF ILLNESS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2004

Gunnar H. Nilsson ,
Lennart Carlsson ,
Henrik Dal  and
Henrik Ullén
Gunnar H. Nilsson
Affiliation:
Karolinska Institutet
Lennart Carlsson
Affiliation:
Stockholm County Council
Henrik Dal
Affiliation:
Stockholm County Council
Henrik Ullén
Affiliation:
Karolinska Hospital
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the annual direct and indirect costs of skin diseases caused by ultraviolet radiation.

Methods: A model for cost-of-illness, including costs for hospital care, primary care, pharmaceuticals, mortality, and morbidity, for approximately 1.8 million inhabitants in Stockholm.

Results: The total annual discounted cost-of-illness in Stockholm was approximately 162 million SEK (MSEK; approximate 2002 exchange rate: 1 U.S. dollar=10 SEK). The indirect costs were predominant and constituted approximately 91 MSEK (56% of total costs), mainly due to an estimated cost of mortality for cutaneous malignant melanoma of 84 MSEK. The direct costs of these diseases, approximately 71 MSEK, were predominated by hospital ambulatory care costs of approximately 33 MSEK. The direct costs constituted approximately 0.4% of the overall health-care costs for hospital care and primary health care in the area.

Conclusions: Skin diseases caused by ultraviolet radiation result in moderate economic losses in the community. Therefore, it may not be easy to make successful prevention of these diseases economically beneficial.

Keywords

Cost of illnessskin cancermelanomaprimary prevention
Type
RESEARCH NOTES
Information
International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , December 2003 , pp. 724 - 730
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Altmeyer P, Hoffman K, Stuecker M, eds. 1997 Skin cancer and UV radiation. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag; 501- 560.
Austoker J. 1994 Melanoma: Prevention and early diagnosis. BMJ. 308: 1682- 1686.Google Scholar
Berwick M, Begg CB, Fine JA, Roush GC. 1996 Screening for cutaneous melanoma by skin self-examination. J Natl Cancer Inst. 88: 17- 23.Google Scholar
Carter R, Marks R, Hill D. 1999 Could a national skin cancer primary prevention campaign in Australia be worthwhile?: An economic perspective. Health Promot Int. 14: 73- 81.Google Scholar
Drummond MF, Stoddart GL, Torrance GW. 1987 Methods for the economic evaluation of health care programmes. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Ekman M. 2002 Studies in health economics – modelling and data analysis of costs and survival (dissertation). Stockholm: Stockholm School of Economics
Epidemiologiskt Centrum. 2001 Cancer incidenses in Sweden 1999. Stockholm: Socialstyrelsen
Freedberg KA, Geller AC, Miller DR, Lew RA, Koh HK. 1999 Screening for malignant melanoma: A cost-effectiveness analysis. J Am Acad Dermatol. 41: 738- 745.Google Scholar
Garatti L, Cainelli T, Tribbia G, Scopelliti D. 1996 Economic evaluation of an educational campaign for early diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma. Pharmacoeconomics. 9: 146- 155.Google Scholar
Gold MR, Siegel JE, Russel LB, Weinstein MC. 1996 Cost-effectiveness in health care and medicine. New York: Oxford University Press
Henriksson F, Jönsson B. 1998 The economic cost of multiple sclerosis in Sweden in 1994. Pharmacoeconomics. 13: 597- 606.Google Scholar
Hill D, White V, Marks R, Borland R. 1993 Changes in sun-related attitudes and behaviours, and reduced sunburn prevalence in a population at high risk of melanoma. Eur J Cancer Prev. 2: 447- 456.Google Scholar
Landstingsförbundet. 2000 Bokslutsstatistik 1999 (Closure statistics 1999). Stockholm: Landstingsförbundet
MacKie RM, Hole D. 1992 Audit of public education campaign to encourage earlier detection of malignant melanoma. BMJ. 304: 1012- 1015.Google Scholar
Rigel D. 1996 Malignant melanoma: Perspectives on incidence and its effects on awareness, diagnosis and treatment. CA Cancer J Clin. 46: 195- 198.Google Scholar
Statistics Sweden. 1998 Statistisk årsbok (Statistics of Sweden). Stockholm: Statistics Sweden
Thorn M, Ponten F, Johansson AM, Bergstrom R. 1998 Rapid increase in diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma in situ in Sweden, 1968-1992. Cancer Detect Prev. 22: 430- 437.Google Scholar
Tsao H, Rogers GS, Sober AJ. 1998 An estimate of the annual direct cost of treating cutaneous melanoma. J Am Acad Dermatol. 38: 669- 680.Google Scholar
Wallberg P, Skog E. 1991 The incidence of basal cell carcinoma in an area of Stockholm County during the period 1971–1980. Acta Derm Venereol. 71: 134- 137.Google Scholar
World Health Organization. 1994 Ultraviolet radiation an authoritative scientific review of environmental and health effects of UV, with reference to global ozone layer depletion published under the joint sponsorship of the United Nations Environment Programme, the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection and the World Health Organization. Geneva: WHO 165- 173.