The financial burden of psychosocial workplace aggression: a systematic review of cost-of-illness studies

Understanding the economic impact of psychological and social forms of workplace aggression to society could yield important insights into the magnitude of this occupational phenomenon. The objective of this systematic review was to collate, summarize, review and critique, and synthesize the cost of psychosocial workplace aggression at the individual- and societal-level. A peer-reviewed research protocol detailing the search strategy, study selection procedures and data extraction process was developed a priori. Both the academic and grey literatures were examined. To allow for basic comparison, all costs were converted and adjusted to reflect 2014 US dollars. Twelve studies, from five national contexts, met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed: Australia (n=2), Italy (n=1), Spain (n=1), the United Kingdom (n=3) and the United States (n=5). The annual cost of psychosocial workplace aggression varied substantially, ranging between $114.64 million and$35.9 billion. Heterogeneity across studies was found, with noted variations in stated study aims, utilized prevalence statistics and included costs. The review concludes that existing evidence attests to the substantial cost of psychosocial workplace aggression to both the individual and society, albeit such derived estimates are likely gross underestimates. The findings highlight the importance of interpreting such figures within their conceptual and methodological contexts

The main methodological issues in costing health care services - a literature review

Aims and objectives: The Healthbasket project seeks to offer evidence on the basket of services offered by the health system in nine member states, and the costs and prices associated with those services. A specific objective of the project is “to identify what are the existing possibilities for and limitation to [cost]comparison and recommend the minimum data required to furnish meaningful international comparison in the future.” To that end, work programme WP7 assesses the costing methodologies for inpatient and outpatient health services at the micro-level. The aim of the WP7 subproject is to provide a comprehensive review best practice in cost assessment by examining the scientific literature on methodologies for calculating health service costs. This review examines published scientific literature about the methodologies used to estimate the costs associated with the delivery of a particular service at the micro-level in both in-patient and out-patient settings. In addition, the review summarises the scientific literature on methodologies used in international comparative studies of health service costs at the micro-level, including in-patient and outpatient settings. Methods: A research protocol was developed which comprises a literature search strategy, inclusion and exclusion criteria, data extraction and synthesis methods. Studies were identified through electronic search of several databases, local library files and reference lists of published articles, as well as books. The literature search was extended to Internet websites of governments, academic institutions and large insurance companies’ in order to include unpublished online information. The literature review focuses on publications between 1986 and 2005, and only English language literature was included. Publications were critically appraised using preset quality criteria. (Continues..