From Individual to Public Health Impact: The Burden of Acute Respiratory Tract Infections

Speaker(s)

van Dorst P1, Veijer C2, van der Velden AW3, Harper E4, Butler CC4, Postma MJ5, Van der Pol S6, van Asselt T1
1University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands, 2University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, GR, Netherlands, 3University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, 4University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, 5University of Groningen,University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Health Sciences and 4. Department of Economics, Econometrics & Finance/ Health-Ecore, Groningen, GR, Netherlands, 6Health-Ecore, Zeist, UT, Netherlands

Presentation Documents

OBJECTIVES: Quantifying the impact of acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in terms of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) is essential for informed public health policy decisions and economic evaluations. While the effect of usually rapidly resolving ARTIs on individual patients may seem minor, the total burden on public health can be significant. This study aims to evaluate HRQoL in patients suffering from an ARTI and determine the associated QALY losses.

METHODS: The analysis utilized data from the PRUDENCE trial, which included patients visiting the General Practitioner (GP) with ARTI in 13 countries. Patients completed the EuroQol-5-Dimensions 5 Levels (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire at the initial visit and after resuming their usual daily activities. Country-specific tariffs were applied to the EQ-5D-5L data to derive utility values. The disutility was calculated as the difference between the initial and follow-up utility value, was multiplied by the disease duration to reflect the QALY loss and was further split up by disease severity as assessed by the GP at their initial visit.

RESULTS: The average disutility for ARTI was estimated to be 0.185 (n=1484, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.177-0.194) with a duration of 5.8 days. The disutility varied with GP-assessed disease severity: 0.151 for mild disease (n=773, 95%CI: 0.142-0.161), 0.219 for moderate disease (n=685, 95%CI: 0.205-0.234), and 0.303 for severe disease (n=26, 95%CI: 0.215-0.391). The duration of disease was 5.3 days, 6.4 days and 7.4 days for mild, moderate and severe disease, respectively. Correspondingly, the average disutility in QALYs was 0.00348 (95%CI: 0.00317-0.00380), split as 0.00257 (95%CI: 0.00223-0.00292) for mild, 0.00435 (95%CI: 0.00384-0.00486) for moderate and 0.00777 (95%CI: 0.00306-0.0125) for severe disease.

CONCLUSIONS: The average disutility value of an ARTI is 0.185 with an average of 0.00348 QALY loss. The GP’s assessment of disease severity is a valuable surrogate for estimating the disutility of ARTIs.

Code

PCR59

Topic

Epidemiology & Public Health, Patient-Centered Research

Topic Subcategory

Health State Utilities, Patient-reported Outcomes & Quality of Life Outcomes, Public Health

Disease

Infectious Disease (non-vaccine)