title: Evaluation of health-care utilization among adult patients with epilepsy in Germany.
abstract: This study evaluated the resource use of patients with epilepsy in the German district of Marburg-Biedenkopf. A cross-sectional cohort of consecutive adults with epilepsy, irrespective of seizure severity, duration of illness and epilepsy syndrome, was investigated in all health-care sectors. Costs of inpatient and outpatient treatment were derived from billing data of participating hospitals and office-based physicians. Data on socioeconomic status, course of epilepsy and further direct and indirect costs were recorded using patient questionnaires. We enrolled 366 patients from the district of Marburg-Biedenkopf and calculated annual epilepsy-specific costs of €7738 per patient. Direct costs contributed 31.1% (€2406) and indirect costs 68.9% (€5332) of the total costs. Direct medical costs were mainly due to hospitalization (33.2% of total direct costs) and anticonvulsants (26.7%). Costs of admissions were due to status epilepticus (24.4%), video-EEG monitoring (14.8%), newly diagnosed patients (14.4%) and seizure-related injuries (8.8%). Indirect costs were mainly due to early retirement (38.0%), unemployment (35.9%) and days off due to seizures (26.2%). The mean costs of epilepsy found in our study were lower than those found in studies conducted at European epilepsy centers due to the inclusion of patients in all health-care sectors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Epilepsy Center Hessen, Philipps-University, Marburg, Germany. adam.strzelczyk@med.uni-marburg.de
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Strzelczyk
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nickolay
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haag
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Knake
authors.forename: Wolfgang H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Oertel
authors.forename: Philipp S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Reif
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rosenow
authors.forename: Jens P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Reese
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dodel
authors.forename: Hajo M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Hamer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000932:Antiemetics / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014741:Video Recording; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000932:Antiemetics