|
Data sources
|
|
• Medical record abstraction form
|
|
• Patient survey
|
|
Unit costs
|
|
Country-specific unit cost estimates will be applied where available, using standard national sources, e.g.,
|
|
• UK National Health Service Reference Costs
|
|
• German Einheitlicher Bewertungsmaßstab (Uniform Rating Scale)
|
|
• National drug formularies
|
|
• National average wage statistics
|
|
Direct health care costs (all CSU-related)
|
|
• Physician visits, including private practice visits
|
|
• Emergency room visits
|
|
• Hospitalizations
|
|
• Therapies (including drugs, alternative medicine and out-of-pocket expenses)
|
|
• Laboratory tests
|
|
• Transportation costs
|
|
Indirect costs (employed patients; CSU-related)
|
|
• Lost productivity due to sick leave and early retirement (analyzed using the friction cost approach)
|
|
• Reduced productivity due to reduced performance at work (presenteeism)
|
