ESTIMATING THE COST OF LOST PRODUCTIVITY IN DYSPEPSIA

SEVERENS JL LAHEIJ RJF JANSEN JBM VANDERLISDONK EH VERBEEK ALM

Jl. Severens et al., ESTIMATING THE COST OF LOST PRODUCTIVITY IN DYSPEPSIA, Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics, 12(9), 1998, pp. 919-923

20

INGLESE

Article

Pharmacology & Pharmacy","Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics → ACNP

0269-2813

12

9

1998

919 - 923

ISI

0269-2813(1998)12:9<919:ETCOLP>2.0.ZU;2-#

Background: In the field of gastrointestinal disease, productivity cos ts are highly relevant because work loss is substantial in dyspeptic p atients. Productivity costs are normally calculated by multiplying day s absent valued by gross earnings. This, however, might lead to an ove restimation, Aim: To use a conservative approach to calculating produc tivity costs, taking absence compensating mechanisms into account, Met hods: Patients who visited their general practitioner for the first ti me with dyspeptic complaints and patients who were known to have persi stent dyspeptic complaints were enrolled in two studies. In total, 136 patients completed a questionnaire about their employment situation, absence from work and absence compensating mechanisms. Results: Sixty- six of the respondents had a paid job, of which 25 (38%) reported abse nce from work during the previous 4 weeks (average 3.0 days, 1.9 days related to dyspeptic complaints). More than 50% of the employed respon dents answered that absence could be compensated for by colleagues, an d only in 8% of the cases was absence compensated for by overtime. Usi ng our conservative approach, only one-quarter of the productivity cos ts remained, compared to the current approach of valuing each day abse nt as a loss of productivity, Conclusions: We suggest using both the c urrent and the conservative approaches, analogous to the principles of sensitivity analysis, to avoid overestimation of productivity costs.