The Health-related Social Costs of Alcohol in Belgium

Overview

Journal BMC Public Health

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Public Health

Date 2017 Dec 17

PMID 29246218

Citations 8

Authors

Nick Verhaeghe

Delfine Lievens

Lieven Annemans

Freya Vander Laenen

Koen Putman

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Alcohol is associated with adverse health effects causing a considerable economic impact to society. A reliable estimate of this economic impact for Belgium is lacking. This is the aim of the study.

Methods: A prevalence-based approach estimating the direct, indirect and intangible costs for the year 2012 was used. Attributional fractions for a series of health effects were derived from literature. The human capital approach was used to estimate indirect costs, while the concept of disability-adjusted life years was used to estimate intangible costs. Sensitivity and scenario analyses were conducted to assess the uncertainty around cost estimates and to evaluate the impact of alternative modelling assumptions.

Results: In 2012, total alcohol-attributable direct costs were estimated at €906.1 million, of which the majority were due to hospitalization (€743.7 million, 82%). The indirect costs amounted to €642.6 million, of which 62% was caused by premature mortality. Alcohol was responsible for 157,500 disability-adjusted life years representing €6.3 billion intangible costs.

Conclusions: Despite a number of limitations intrinsic to this kind of research, the study can be considered as the most comprehensive analysis thus far of the health-related social costs of alcohol in Belgium.

Citing Articles

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The economic burden of smoking in Belgium: incremental healthcare costs and lost productivity.

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The state of health in Belgium, 1990-2019: a benchmarking analysis based on the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study.

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Production losses due to mortality associated with modifiable health risk factors in Poland.

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