title: Economic burden of osteoporotic fractures in Austria.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Osteoporotic fractures impose a huge economic burden on society. Though several cost of illness studies from other countries exist, no equivalent study has been conducted in Austria. Our study aims at assessing costs resulting from osteoporotic fractures in Austria in the year 2008 from a societal perspective.
  
  
  METHODS
  We took both direct and indirect costs into consideration. Direct costs encompass medical costs such as expenses for pharmaceuticals, inpatient and outpatient medical care costs, as well as other medical services (e.g., occupational therapies). Non-medical direct costs include transportation costs and medical devices (e.g., wheel chairs or crutches). Indirect costs refer to costs of productivity losses due to absence of work. Moreover, we included costs for early retirement and opportunity costs of informal care provided by family members. For our analysis, we combined data of official statistics, expert estimates as well as unique patient surveys that are currently conducted in the course of an international osteoporotic fracture study in Austria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For the year 2008, the total annual financial burden incurred by osteoporotic fractures in Austria amounted to approx. €685.2 million, the largest fraction of which was due to the opportunity cost of family care (30.2%), followed by costs for hospitalization (26.6%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The financial burden of osteoporotic fractures in Austria is substantial. Our findings may have implications for future economic analyses, and also support health care authorities in their decision making.
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria. hans.dimai@medunigraz.at.
authors: Hans Peter
authors: HP
authors: Dimai
authors: Kurt
authors: K
authors: Redlich
authors: Monika
authors: M
authors: Peretz
authors: Fredrik
authors: F
authors: Borgström
authors: Uwe
authors: U
authors: Siebert
authors: Jörg
authors: J
authors: Mahlich