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The European Journal of Health Economics
Published in: The European Journal of Health Economics 5/2011

Open Access 01-10-2011 | Original Paper

Cost of low back pain in Switzerland in 2005

Authors: Simon Wieser, Bruno Horisberger, Sara Schmidhauser, Claudia Eisenring, Urs Brügger, Andreas Ruckstuhl, Jürg Dietrich, Anne F. Mannion, Achim Elfering, Özgür Tamcan, Urs Müller

Published in: The European Journal of Health Economics | Issue 5/2011

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Abstract

Low back pain (LBP) is the most prevalent health problem in Switzerland and a leading cause of reduced work performance and disability. This study estimated the total cost of LBP in Switzerland in 2005 from a societal perspective using a bottom-up prevalence-based cost-of-illness approach. The study considers more cost categories than are typically investigated and includes the costs associated with a multitude of LBP sufferers who are not under medical care. The findings are based on a questionnaire completed by a sample of 2,507 German-speaking respondents, of whom 1,253 suffered from LBP in the last 4 weeks; 346 of them were receiving medical treatment for their LBP. Direct costs of LBP were estimated at €2.6 billion and direct medical costs at 6.1% of the total healthcare expenditure in Switzerland. Productivity losses were estimated at €4.1 billion with the human capital approach and €2.2 billion with the friction cost approach. Presenteeism was the single most prominent cost category. The total economic burden of LBP to Swiss society was between 1.6 and 2.3% of GDP.
Footnotes
1
For further details on the Swiss health care system see European Observatory on Health Care Systems [17].
 
2
The extrapolation is based on the assumptions that our sample is representative for all LBP sufferers in Switzerland and that suffering from LBP does not vary seasonally. Note that although the sample covers only the German speaking part of Switzerland, where 72.3% of the population lives, a large national health survey showed no significant differences in prevalence of LBP between the language regions in 2007 (Swiss Federal Office of Statistics [9])
 
3
Calculation share of direct costs sustained directly by patients and their families: (other therapy sessions + cure stay + assistance, prevention, utility devices) = 42.2% of total direct costs ((expenses for inpatient and outpatient medical care by health insurance) multiplied with the average cost participation by the insured according to national health care statistics) = 8.3% of total direct costs.
 
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Metadata
Title
Cost of low back pain in Switzerland in 2005
Authors
Simon Wieser
Bruno Horisberger
Sara Schmidhauser
Claudia Eisenring
Urs Brügger
Andreas Ruckstuhl
Jürg Dietrich
Anne F. Mannion
Achim Elfering
Özgür Tamcan
Urs Müller
Publication date
01-10-2011
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
The European Journal of Health Economics / Issue 5/2011
Print ISSN: 1618-7598
Electronic ISSN: 1618-7601
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-010-0258-y

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