Evaluation of the economic and social burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to calculate the economic and social burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Bulgaria generated from the loss of productivity due to absence from work (absenteeism), due to premature retirement, due to reduced productivity (presenteeism), and the disability adjusted life years (DALY). An observational study among 426 Bulgarian COPD patients was conducted for the period 2014–2015. Human capital approach was used to calculate the productivity losses and the DALY methodology of the World Health Organization was applied. The patients with moderate (50%) and severe (48%) disease were absent from work more frequently than those with mild COPD (2%) and generated productivity losses of 521.45€ per patient per year. The average indirect costs per patient for the remaining working ages due to premature retirement account for 25,000€ (6250 per patient on average), while those due to presenteeism, for about 3750.64€ per year. Accordingly, the DALYs in the group of patients with mild severity were lowest due to the low disutility index and number of patients in this sample group. On average, a patient with mild COPD spends 0.62 years of his life in disability due to the disease, while those with moderate and severe disease spend 6.00 and 9.00 years, respectively. This amounted to the following indirect costs experienced by patients: 3596.52€; 34,204.01€; 51,332.20€, respectively. We demonstrated a significant indirect financial and societal burden of COPD in Bulgaria, which is in correlation with the severity of the disease.