This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Law, B.
Right arrow Articles by Rivière, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Law, B.
Right arrow Articles by Rivière, M.

PEDIATRICS Vol. 104 No. 1 July 1999, pp. 7-14

Cost of Chickenpox in Canada: Part II. Cost of Complicated Cases and Total Economic Impact

Received Sep 14, 1998; accepted Nov 30, 1998.

Barbara Law*, Catherine FitzsimonDagger , Lee Ford-Jones§, John McCormickDagger , Marc Rivièreparallel , and Members of the Immunization Monitoring Program---Active (IMPACT)

From the * University of Manitoba, Winnipeg; Dagger  Quintiles Canada Inc, Montreal; § The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto; parallel  Quintiles Canada, Inc, Québec, Canada (at the time of study).

Objective.  Primarily, to determine the direct medical costs and productivity losses associated with complicated chickenpox (hospitalized cases) and, secondarily, to quantify the overall economic burden of chickenpox in Canada.

Methods.  Direct medical resource consumption patterns were determined by chart review of 160 otherwise healthy children and 40 children with leukemia hospitalized for chickenpox. Children were selected from the database of the Immunization Monitoring Program Active (IMPACT), a network of 11 tertiary-care hospitals in Canada that collected information at the time of hospitalization from January 1991 to March 1996. An additional 26 healthy children hospitalized were recruited prospectively by IMPACT. Productivity losses (time lost from work and daily activities) were assessed by caregiver interviews. Treatment costs were determined from the patient, Ministry of Health, and societal perspectives.

Results.  The average societal per case cost for complicated chickenpox in healthy children was $7060 and $8398, respectively, from the retrospective and prospective assessments. For children with leukemia, the direct medical cost was estimated at $7228. These costs were combined with a cost established previously for uncomplicated chickenpox. The estimated yearly overall economic impact of chickenpox in Canada was $122.4 million, with $24.0 million attributable to Ministry of Health costs, assuming an estimated yearly incidence of 346 527 cases and a 0.54% rate of hospitalization for healthy children.

Conclusions.  Direct medical costs are the major cost driver in the care of complicated chickenpox. However, in the context of the overall economic burden of the disease, uncomplicated chickenpox is the major cost driver, contributing 89% to the total cost.  Key words:  chickenpox, cost, Canada, complications.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 PediatricsHome page
A. M. Fine, D. A. Goldmann, P. W. Forbes, S. K. Harris, and K. D. Mandl
Incorporating Vaccine-Preventable Disease Surveillance Into the National Health Information Network: Leveraging Children's Hospitals
Pediatrics, October 1, 2006; 118(4): 1431 - 1438.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Natl Cancer Inst MonogrHome page
A. S. Pickard, L.-A. Topfer, and D. H. Feeny
A Structured Review of Studies on Health-Related Quality of Life and Economic Evaluation in Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
J Natl Cancer Inst Monographs, October 1, 2004; 2004(33): 102 - 125.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Inj. Prev.Home page
R E Sapien, J Widman Roux, and L Fullerton-Gleason
Children's response to a commercial back-up warning device
Inj. Prev., March 1, 2003; 9(1): 87 - 88.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 CMAJHome page
B. J. Law
Chickenpox vaccination, not chickenpox, should be routine for Canadian children
Can. Med. Assoc. J., May 1, 2001; 164(10): 1454 - 1455.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 PediatricsHome page
B. Law, C. Fitzsimon, L. Ford-Jones, N. MacDonald, P. Déry, W. Vaudry, E. Mills, S. Halperin, A. Michaliszyn, and M. Rivière
Cost of Chickenpox in Canada: Part I. Cost of Uncomplicated Cases
Pediatrics, July 1, 1999; 104(1): 1 - 6.
[Abstract] [Full Text]