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Indirect costs in ambulatory patients with HIV/AIDS in Spain

A pilot study

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Abstract

Objective: To estimate indirect costs in Spanish ambulatory patients with HIV/AIDS and to identify changes in employment status and their current QOL.

Method: Information was obtained through 32 interviews/enquiries carried out with ambulatory patients receiving medical attention at Gregorio Marañón and Puerta de Hierro hospitals in Madrid, Spain. The study variables included information on sociodemographics, economics, and clinical and QOL (EuroQol instrument; EQ-5D) parameters of these patients.

Results: Our main result showed the existence of high indirect costs (lost income and lost wages; 2002 values) at the individual level. We identified a strong effect in terms of income loss (the annual loss of income ranged between €5271 and €6150 per patient) and lost wages (the annual loss of wages ranged between €7537 and €8793 per patient). We also observed a strong impact on household income (the annual loss of household income ranged between €6693 and €7813). There was a great variability in these costs among the patients depending on their QOL, gender and education. We detected a statistically significant and positive correlation between QOL and having a job.

Conclusions: We observed a high level of QOL among the patients, which reflects the potential benefits of pharmacological treatment. We found that the better the QOL, the higher the probability of being employed. However, indirect costs were high among patients despite their good QOL.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Indalecio Corugedo, Álvaro Hidalgo, Jaume Puig, Dr Jesús Millán, Dr Emilio Bouza, Dr Dolores Montserrat, Dr Teodoro Martín, Dr María Sanjurjo, Dr Isabel Castillo, Dr Lourdes Caro, Alicia Coduras, Carmen López-Lavid and Gonzalo Nocea and three anonymous referees for their comments.

This study has received unconditional support from Merck, Sharp & Dohme de España, S. A.

Juan Oliva thanks the scholarship granted by The Merck Company Foundation, the philanthropic branch of Merck & Co. Inc., White House Station, New Jersey, USA, for providing the opportunity to attend the congress organised by the Spanish Health Economics Association held in Oviedo in 2001.

The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Calle Madrid, 126, 28903, Getafe Madrid, Spain

    Juan Oliva

  2. Fundación Gaspar Casal, Madrid, Spain

    Juan Oliva & Juan del Llano

  3. Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    César Roa

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  1. Juan Oliva
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  2. César Roa
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  3. Juan del Llano
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Correspondence to Juan Oliva.

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Oliva, J., Roa, C. & del Llano, J. Indirect costs in ambulatory patients with HIV/AIDS in Spain. Pharmacoeconomic 21, 1113–1121 (2003). https://doi.org/10.2165/00019053-200321150-00005

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