Economic Burden of Illness

A Health Canada report, Economic Burden of Illness In Canada, 1993, attempted to quantify both direct costs (traditional expenditures) and indirect costs related to illness and injury. The researchers estimated indirect costs by measuring the present value of lost productivity due to long term disability, short term disability and premature death.

They determined that illness cost Canadians $5450.00 per person in 1993, for a total of $156.9 billion, or about 22% of the gross domestic product. The direct cost component of this was $71.7 billion, with indirect costs accounting for the remaining $85.2 billion.

COSTS BY HIGHEST RANKING DIAGNOSTIC CATEGORIES (1993)

Diagnostic category Direct costs
($ billions) 		Indirect costs
($ billions) 		Total Costs
($ billions)
Cardiovascular diseases 7.35 12.37 19.72
Musculoskeletal diseases 2.46 15.33 17.79
Injuries 3.12 11.22 14.34
Cancer 3.22 9.85 13.07
Respiratory diseases 3.79 8.39 12.18
Nervous system diseases 2.25 7.32 9.57
Mental disorders 5.05 2.79 7.84
Digestive diseases 3.33 2.92 6.25
Ill defined diseases 1.85 2.52 4.37
Endocrine related diseases 1.33 2.09 3.42


At 19.7 billion, cardiovascular disease ranked highest in terms of total costs (both direct and indirect). It was followed by musculoskeletal disease ($17.8 billion), injuries ($14.3 billion) and cancer ($13.1 billion). These 4 categories represented more than 50% of the total costs that could be classified by diagnostic category.

Indirect costs of mortality, long term disability and short term disability were highest for musculoskeletal diseases (18%) followed by cardiovascular diseases (14.5%) and injuries (13.2%).

 

Dr. Eric Rumack
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Bus: 647-822-2896 | Email: doctor@rumack.ca