The direct and indirect costs associated with food hypersensitivity in households: A study in the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain

Background: Recent studies show that food hypersensitivity, such as food allergy or food intolerance, has the potential to affect direct, indirect and intangible economic costs experienced by individuals and their families. This research assesses the direct and indirect economic costs of food hypersensitivity at the household level in the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain. Methods:  A self-administered postal survey was conducted (n=1558). Respondents with food hypersensitivity were clinically diagnosed cases recruited through clinical centres in Poland and Spain. In the Netherlands, food hypersensitivity cases were recruited through hospitals, patient organisations and advertisements. The controls formed the baseline sample and were obtained from households in which none of the members had food hypersensitivity. The monetary value of indirect costs, forgone time, was calculated using the opportunity cost method. The indirect and direct costs were expressed in purchasing power parity. Analysis of co-variance on the cost items was used to test the within-country differences between respondents with food hypersensitivity and respondents without food hypersensitivity, as well as across the three countries. Results: The average total direct and indirect costs across all countries for families with food hypersensitive family members are not higher than for households without food hypersensitive members. However, the intangible costs for food hypersensitive individuals appear to be higher than for individuals in the control group.Conclusions: These results do not support the hypothesis that all food allergies incur high costs to the individual. However, being hypersensitive to foods may have a negative impact on quality of life compared to people who are not food hypersensitive

Health sector costs of self-reported food allergy in Europe:a patient-based cost of illness study

<p>Introduction: Food allergy is a recognized health problem, but little has been reported on its cost for health services. The EuroPrevall project was a European study investigating the patterns, prevalence and socio-economic cost of food allergy. Aims: To investigate the health service cost for food-allergic Europeans and the relationship between severity and cost of illness. Methods: Participants recruited through EuroPrevall studies in a case-control study in four countries, and cases only in five countries, completed a validated economics questionnaire. Individuals with possible food allergy were identified by clinical history, and those with food-specific immuno-globulin E were defined as having probable allergy. Data on resource use were used to estimate total health care costs of illness. Mean costs were compared in the case-control cohorts. Regression analysis was conducted on cases from all 9 countries to assess impact of country, severity and age group. Results: Food-allergic individuals had higher health care costs than controls. The mean annual cost of health care was international dollars (I$)2016 for food-allergic adults and I$1089 for controls, a difference of I$927 (95$324-I$1530). A similar result was found for adults in each country, and for children, and was not sensitive to baseline demographic differences. Cost was significantly related to severity of illness in cases in nine countries. Conclusions: Food allergy is associated with higher health care costs. Severity of allergic symptoms is a key explanatory factor..</p>

Feasibility of a mobile app to improve inhaler adherence in real‐world patients with asthma: A multicentre observational study in Portugal and Spain

InspirerMundi app aims to transform adherence into a positive experience through gamification and social support, while allowing objective monitoring of inhaler adherence. This study assessed the feasibility of the app in adolescents and adults with persistent asthma.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Feasibility and Acceptability of an Asthma App to Monitor Medication Adherence : Mixed Methods Study

Background: Poor medication adherence is a major challenge in asthma, and objective assessment of inhaler adherence is needed. The InspirerMundi app aims to monitor adherence while providing a positive experience through gamification and social support. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the InspirerMundi app to monitor medication adherence in adolescents and adults with persistent asthma (treated with daily inhaled medication). Methods: A 1-month mixed method multicenter observational study was conducted in 26 secondary care centers from Portugal and Spain. During an initial face-to-face visit, physicians reported patients' asthma therapeutic plan in a structured questionnaire. During the visits, patients were invited to use the app daily to register their asthma medication intakes. A scheduled intake was considered taken when patients registered the intake (inhaler, blister, or other drug formulation) by using the image-based medication detection tool. At 1 month, patients were interviewed by phone, and app satisfaction was assessed on a 1 (low) to 5 (high) scale. Patients were also asked to point out the most and least preferred app features and make suggestions for future app improvements. Results: A total of 107 patients (median 27 [P25-P75 14-40] years) were invited, 92.5% (99/107) installed the app, and 73.8% (79/107) completed the 1-month interview. Patients interacted with the app a median of 9 (P25-P75 1-24) days. At least one medication was registered in the app by 78% (77/99) of patients. A total of 53% (52/99) of participants registered all prescribed inhalers, and 34% (34/99) registered the complete asthma therapeutic plan. Median medication adherence was 75% (P25-P75 25%-90%) for inhalers and 82% (P25-P75 50%-94%) for other drug formulations. Patients were globally satisfied with the app, with 75% (59/79) scoring &gt;= 4,; adherence monitoring, symptom monitoring, and gamification features being the most highly scored components; and the medication detection tool among the lowest scored. A total of 53% (42/79) of the patients stated that the app had motivated them to improve adherence to inhaled medication and 77% (61/79) would recommend the app to other patients. Patient feedback was reflected in 4 major themes: medication-related features (67/79, 85%), gamification and social network (33/79, 42%), symptom monitoring and physician communication (21/79, 27%), and other aspects (16/79, 20%). Conclusions: The InspirerMundi app was feasible and acceptable to monitor medication adherence in patients with asthma. Based on patient feedback and to increase the registering of medications, the therapeutic plan registration and medication detection tool were redesigned. Our results highlight the importance of patient participation to produce a patient-centered and engaging mHealth asthma app