title: Fibromyalgia-related costs and loss of productivity: a substantial societal burden.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study aimed at describing pain-related health care resource use, direct costs, and productivity loss among patients suffering from fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS).
  
  
  METHODS
  A cost-of-illness study with a sample of 57 adults having a diagnosis of FMS was conducted in the province of Quebec (Canada). Data regarding FMS-related direct costs and productivity loss from paid and unpaid work over a three-month period were collected using a standardized structured telephone interview protocol. Direct costs were valued in 2009 Canadian dollars using a societal perspective.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results showed that average direct costs over a three-month period added up to $951 per patient (SD: $710), which could be translated in a mean annual cost of $3804. The purchase of prescribed medications led to the highest costs (mean: $329, SD: $321), followed by consultations to health care professionals other than physicians (mean: $129, SD: $222) and physicians consultations (mean: $98, SD: $116). Results further showed a high economic burden for patients themselves, aside from costs covered by public or private insurers. Among the subsample of participants who had a paid job (45.6%), an average of 5.6 days (SD: 13.2) were lost due to pain during the past three months. Among those who were not employed (54.4%), an average of 25.1 days in household productivity (SD: 24.8) were lost.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  FMS is associated with a substantial socioeconomic burden. Further research is clearly needed to improve the management of this type of disorder and make better decisions regarding resource allocation.
authors.affiliation: Département des sciences de la santé, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Anaïs
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lacasse
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada.|École des sciences infirmières, Faculté de médecine et des sciences de la santé, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bourgault
authors.affiliation: Département d'anesthésiologie, Faculté de médecine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada. manon.choiniere@umontreal.ca.|Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Tour Saint-Antoine 850, rue Saint-Denis, Bureau S03-428, Montréal, Québec, Canada. manon.choiniere@umontreal.ca.
authors.forename: Manon
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Choinière
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004526:Efficiency; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011792:Quebec / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Chronic pain; Cost of illness; Direct costs; Fibromyalgia; Productivity loss; Societal costs