title: Evaluation of the economic burden of Herpes Zoster (HZ) infection.
abstract: The main objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the economic burden of Herpes Zoster (HZ) infection.   The review was conducted in accordance with the standards of the "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses" guidelines. The following databases were accessed: ISI/Web of Knowledge (WoS), MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, the Cochrane Library and EconLit. Specific literature on health economics was also manually inspected. Thirty-three studies were included. The quality of the studies assessed in accordance with the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards checklist was good. All studies evaluated direct costs, apart from one which dealt only with indirect costs. Indirect costs were evaluated by 12 studies. The economic burden of HZ has increased over time. HZ management and drug prescriptions generate the highest direct costs. While increasing age, co-morbidities and drug treatment were found to predict higher direct costs, being employed was correlated with higher indirect costs, and thus with the onset age of the disease. Despite some differences among the selected studies, particularly with regard to indirect costs, all concur that HZ is a widespread disease which has a heavy social and economic burden.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Health Sciences; University of Genoa; Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Donatella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Panatto
authors.forename: Nicola Luigi
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Bragazzi
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rizzitelli
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bonanni
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boccalini
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Icardi
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gasparini
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Amicizia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000150:complications / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Herpes zoster; Post-herpetic neuralgia; direct and indirect cost; economic burden; systematic review