The economic burden of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in Australia: a cost of illness study

Ingrid A Cox^{1

2}, Barbara de Graaff^{1

2}, Hasnat Ahmed¹, Julie Campbell¹, Petr Otahal¹, Tamera J Corte^{2

3

4}, Yuben Moodley^{2

5

6

7}, Nicole Goh^{2

8

9}, Peter Hopkins^{2

10

11}, Sacha Macansh¹², E Haydn Walters^#^{1

2}, Andrew J Palmer^#^{13

14}

Affiliations

¹ Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, 17 Liverpool Street, Hobart, TAS, Australia.
² NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence for Pulmonary Fibrosis, Camperdown, Australia.
³ Central Clinical School, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia.
⁴ Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, Australia.
⁵ Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
⁶ Institute of Respiratory Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
⁷ Department of Respiratory Medicine, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Murdoch, Australia.
⁸ Department of Respiratory Medicine and Sleep, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
⁹ Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Austin Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
¹⁰ Queensland Centre for Pulmonary Transplantation and Vascular Disease, The Prince Charles Hospital, Chermside, Australia.
¹¹ Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia.
¹² Australian Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Registry, Lung Foundation of Australia, New South Wales, Australia.
¹³ Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, 17 Liverpool Street, Hobart, TAS, Australia. andrew.palmer@utas.edu.au.
¹⁴ NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence for Pulmonary Fibrosis, Camperdown, Australia. andrew.palmer@utas.edu.au.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 36289130
PMCID: PMC10406709
DOI: 10.1007/s10198-022-01538-7

The economic burden of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in Australia: a cost of illness study

Ingrid A Cox et al. Eur J Health Econ. 2023 Sep.

. 2023 Sep;24(7):1121-1139.

doi: 10.1007/s10198-022-01538-7. Epub 2022 Oct 27.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, 17 Liverpool Street, Hobart, TAS, Australia.
² NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence for Pulmonary Fibrosis, Camperdown, Australia.
³ Central Clinical School, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia.
⁴ Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, Australia.
⁵ Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
⁶ Institute of Respiratory Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
⁷ Department of Respiratory Medicine, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Murdoch, Australia.
⁸ Department of Respiratory Medicine and Sleep, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
⁹ Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Austin Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
¹⁰ Queensland Centre for Pulmonary Transplantation and Vascular Disease, The Prince Charles Hospital, Chermside, Australia.
¹¹ Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia.
¹² Australian Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Registry, Lung Foundation of Australia, New South Wales, Australia.
¹³ Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, 17 Liverpool Street, Hobart, TAS, Australia. andrew.palmer@utas.edu.au.
¹⁴ NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence for Pulmonary Fibrosis, Camperdown, Australia. andrew.palmer@utas.edu.au.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 36289130
PMCID: PMC10406709
DOI: 10.1007/s10198-022-01538-7

Abstract

Purpose: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a type of interstitial lung disease found mostly in elderly persons, characterized by a high symptom burden and frequent encounters with health services. This study aimed to quantify the economic burden of IPF in Australia with a focus on resource utilization and associated direct costs.

Methods: Participants were recruited from the Australian IPF Registry (AIPFR) between August 2018 and December 2019. Data on resource utilization and costs were collected via cost diaries and linked administrative data. Clinical data were collected from the AIPFR. A "bottom up" costing methodology was utilized, and the costing was performed from a partial societal perspective focusing primarily on direct medical and non-medical costs. Costs were standardized to 2021 Australian dollars ($).

Results: The average annual total direct costs per person with IPF was $31,655 (95% confidence interval (95% CI): $27,723-$35,757). Extrapolating costs based on prevalence estimates, the total annual costs in Australia are projected to be $299 million (95% CI: $262 million-$338 million). Costs were mainly driven by antifibrotic medication, hospital admissions and medications for comorbidities. Disease severity, comorbidities and antifibrotic medication all had varying impacts on resource utilization and costs.

Conclusion: This cost-of-illness study provides the first comprehensive assessment of IPF-related direct costs in Australia, identifies the key cost drivers and provides a framework for future health economic analyses. Additionally, it provided insight into the major cost drivers which include antifibrotic medication, hospital admissions and medications related to comorbidities. Our findings emphasize the importance of the appropriate management of comorbidities in the care of people with IPF as this was one of the main reasons for hospitalizations.

Keywords: Cost of illness; Economic burden; Heath resource utilization; Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

TC reports grants and personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, grants and personal fees from Roche, grants and personal fees from BMS, personal fees from Promedior, personal fees from Ad Alta, grants from Avalyn Pharma, grants from Biogen, outside the submitted work. All other authors declare that they have no financial/competing interests.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Proportion of total direct costs by cost category. ED emergency department, GP general practitioner, *less than 1%

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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The economic burden of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in Australia: a cost of illness study

Affiliations

The economic burden of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in Australia: a cost of illness study

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources