Healthcare economic evaluation of chronic pain: Measuring the economic, social and personal impact of chronic pain and its management

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of the social and personal costs of chronic pain and the role of healthcare economic evaluation methods within the context of chronic pain management, using a standardized and scientific approach. An economic evaluation is essentially the comparative analysis of alternative courses of action in terms of both their costs and consequences (Drummond, Sculpher, Torrance, O'Brien, & Stoddart, 2005). Thus the fundamental tasks of any economic evaluation-including those concerned with heath services-are to identify, measure, value, and compare the costs and consequences of the alternatives being considered (Drummond, Sculpher et al., 2005). The types of healthcare economic evaluations, the categories of cost incorporated in healthcare economic evaluations, the possible perspectives of a healthcare economic evaluation, and a framework for assessing healthcare economic evaluations will first be discussed. The application of such evaluation methods will then be described for two very common, specific chronic pain conditions, namely, chronic low back pain and fibromyalgia. Lastly, the implications and challenges related to the clinical application of healthcare economic evaluations of chronic pain treatment will be discussed.