title: Estimating the economic costs of the abuse of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs: a review of methodologies and Canadian data sources.
abstract: The study of economic costs of substance abuse, namely, abuse of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs, can provide important information for setting good public health policies. This review paper provides a list of previous cost studies of substance abuse, compares the cost categories considered by various methodologies and describes an inventory of data sources for obtaining relevant information for cost studies. Investigators will find this paper useful as an introduction to the literature in this area, for designing a list of cost categories to consider in a particular study and for identifying relevant data sources.
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Cardio-Respiratory Diseases and Diabetes, Laboratory Centre for Disease Control, Health Canada, Tunney's Pasture, AL: 0602D, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0L2. Bernard_Choi@hc-sc.gc.ca
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Robson
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Single
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002170:Canada; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D006801:Humans; D012907:Smoking / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology