title: The costs of epilepsy misdiagnosis in England and Wales.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The management of epilepsy incurs significant costs to the United Kingdom (UK) National Health Service (NHS). Making a diagnosis of epilepsy can, however, be difficult and misdiagnosis frequently occurs when patients are seen by non-specialists. This study estimates the financial costs of epilepsy misdiagnosis in the NHS in England and Wales.
  
  
  METHODS
  Standard costing methods were applied to estimate the costs attributable to epilepsy misdiagnosis. The primary data were published in UK studies on the prevalence of epilepsy, epilepsy misdiagnosis and costs identified from Medline, Cinahl and Embase (1996-May 2006).
  
  
  RESULTS
  An estimated total of 92,000 people were misdiagnosed with epilepsy in England and Wales in 2002. The average medical cost per patient per year of misdiagnosis was 316 pounds sterling, with the chief economic burdens being inpatient admissions (45%), inappropriate prescribing of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) (26%), outpatient attendances (16%) and general practitioner (GP) care (8%). The estimated annual medical costs in England and Wales were 29,000,000 pounds sterling, while total costs could reach up to 138,000,000 pounds sterling a year.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Allowing for uncertainty, and considering the analysis exclusively from the NHS/CBS (community based services) perspective the opportunity costs of misdiagnosis are substantial. There is a need for health care commissioners to ensure that misdiagnosis is kept to a minimum by ensuring that individuals with a recent onset suspected seizure are seen as soon as possible by a specialist medical practitioner with training and expertise in epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham, Park House, Birmingham B15 2RT, UK.
authors.forename: Ariadna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Juarez-Garcia
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stokes
authors.forename: Beth
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Janette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Camosso-Stefinovic
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baker
mesh_terms: D017281:Cost of Illness; D003951:Diagnostic Errors / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D013222:State Medicine / Q000191:economics*; D014852:Wales / Q000453:epidemiology