7 research outputs found
Life after breast, prostate, and colon cancer: Primary care's role
When patients survive cancer, they eventually come back to their primary care physicians. This group has special needs, including surveillance for recurrent and new cancer, health promotion, and interventions to mitigate the lingering effects of the cancer and the adverse effects of its treatment
The direct healthcare costs attributable to West Nile virus illness in Ontario, Canada: a population-based cohort study using laboratory and health administrative data
Abstract
Background
West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus, first detected in the Western Hemisphere in 1999 and spread across North America over the next decade. Though endemic in the most populous areas of North America, few studies have estimated the healthcare costs associated with WNV. The objective of this study was to determine direct healthcare costs attributable to WNV illness in Ontario, Canada.
Methods
We conducted a cost-of-illness study on incident laboratory confirmed and probable WNV infected subjects identified from the provincial laboratory database from Jan 1, 2002 through Dec 31, 2012. Infected subjects were linked to health administrative data and matched to uninfected subjects. We used phase-of-care methods to calculate costs for 3 phases of illness: acute infection, continuing care, and final care prior to death. Mean 10-day attributable costs were reported in 2014 Canadian dollars, per capita. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to test the impact of WNV neurologic syndromes on healthcare costs.
Results
One thousand five hundred fifty-one laboratory confirmed and probable WNV infected subjects were ascertained; 1540 (99.3%) were matched to uninfected subjects. Mean age of WNV infected subjects was 49.1 ± 18.4 years, 50.5% were female. Mean costs attributable to WNV were 1001, 180 (95% CI: 238) for continuing care, 5916, 3199 (95% CI: 4627) for final care - late death. Expected 1-year costs were 4710, 95% CI: 5650).
Conclusions
WNV is associated with increased healthcare resource utilization across all phases of care. High-quality studies are needed to understand the health system impact of vector-borne diseases and evaluate the cost effectiveness of novel WNV interventions