The economic burden of chronic diseases: Estimates and projections for China, Japan, and South Korea

Abstract

We propose a novel framework to analyse the macroeconomic impact of noncommunicable diseases. We incorporate measures of disease prevalence into a human capital augmented production function, which enables us to determine the economic costs of chronic health conditions in terms of foregone gross domestic product (GDP). Unlike previously adopted frameworks, this approach allows us to account for i) variations in human capital for workers in different age groups, ii) mortality and morbidity effects of non-communicable diseases, and iii) the treatment costs of diseases. We apply our methodology to China, Japan, and South Korea, and estimate the economic burden of chronic conditions in five domains (cardiovascular diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases, diabetes, and mental health conditions). Overall, total losses associated with these non-communicable diseases over the period 2010-2030 are$16 trillion for China (measured in real USD with the base year 2010), $5.7 trillion for Japan, and$1.5 trillion for South Korea. Our results also highlight the limits of cost-effectiveness analysis by identifying some intervention strategies to reduce disease prevalence in China that are cost beneficial and therefore a rational use of resources, though they are not cost-effective as judged by conventional thresholds.

Global Economic Burden of Diabetes in Adults: Projections From 2015 to 2030

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How frequent night-time bathroom visits can negatively impact sleep, well-being and productivity: Examining the associations between nocturia, well-being and economic outcomes in a working-age population

“…In this study we aim to quantify the economic costs associated with nocturia in a working-age population across six different countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Australia, Japan and the United States. For this purpose we apply a macroeconomic or so called 'lost economic output' model (Bloom et al, 2011) to estimate the potential economic loss associated with nocturia. 1 An advantage of using a more detailed economic model is that any changes in the supply of labour can have potential spillover effects to other agents in an economy (e.g.…”

“…Specifically in the field of health economics, the application of CGE models has recently become more common due to its advantages against more traditional approaches, such as cost of illness (COI) methods (e.g. Bloom et al 2018). COI is an easy-to-understand method that summarises the Quantifying the macroeconomic implications associated with nocturia 6 direct and indirect cost associated with ill-health, taking into account, for instance, the sum of all direct personal medical cost, as well as the indirect cost (e.g.…”

Impact of community based screening for hypertension on blood pressure after two years: regression discontinuity analysis in a national cohort of older adults in China

“…1 2 In China, 3 nearly half of adults aged 35-75 years have hypertension 4 and 24% of deaths have been attributed to the condition, 1 which has resulted in major health and economic burdens at the community and national levels. 5 Hypertension is easy and inexpensive to diagnose and mortality risk can be substantially reduced through effective low cost off-patent drugs, 6 7 8 but China still has large gaps in care for people with the condition. Recent evidence has shown that only 45% of Chinese adults with hypertension were aware of their condition, only 30% were taking antihypertensive drugs, and just 7% had achieved normal blood pressure levels.…”