FRIDAY, Oct. 24, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- For stroke survivors, annual direct costs are comparable at 10 years and between three to five years for ischemic stroke but are higher at 10 years after hemorrhagic stroke, according to a study published online Oct. 23 in Stroke.
Tristan D. Gloede, from the University of Cologne in Germany, and colleagues applied 10-year patient-level resource data to cost-of-illness models. Incidence data from a larger study region of the North East Melbourne Stroke Incidence Study were incorporated as well as new 10-year survival and recurrent stroke rates.
The researchers found that the overall average annual direct costs for ischemic stroke at 10 years ($5,207) were comparable to those for survivors between three and five years ($5,438). There was variation in the contribution of some costs; medications contributed 13 and 20 percent at five and 10 years, respectively. Annual direct costs of intracerebral hemorrhage were considerable greater (24 percent) at 10 years than those estimated using three to five year data. Use of updated models correlated with greater average lifetime costs per case. The findings were robust following sensitivity and multivariable uncertainty analyses.
"Costs to 10 years after stroke have not previously been reported," the authors write. "Our findings demonstrate the importance of estimating resource use over longer periods for forecasting lifetime estimates."
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