Inadequately Managed Allergies Cause Significant Economic Burden

In the European Union (EU), between 44 and 76 million individuals of the 217 million EU employees suffer from allergic disease of the airways or the skin. Up to 90% of these persons are untreated or insufficiently treated. This has major socio-economic consequences such as absence from work (absenteeism), particularly reduced productivity at work (presenteeism).

New research in Europe indicates that avoidable indirect costs per patient insufficiently treated for allergy equal 2,405.00 Euros per year due to absence from work and reduced working capacity. On the other hand, appropriate therapy is available at an average cost of 125 Euros per patient annually, which represents only 5 percent of the cost of untreated disease.

"Between 55 and 151 billion Euros EU wide could be saved every year by better management of allergies," said Dr. Torsten Zuberbier, lead author of the Allergy study.

Study Conclusion

A better care for allergies based on guideline-based treatment would allow Europe's economy substantial savings. In addition, allergies have an impact on learning and performance at school and university, leading to opportunity costs for society. This cannot be calculated moneywise but will have an impact in a modern knowledge-based society. Still allergies are trivialized in society, noting that the costs of therapy are paid by patients and healthcare services, whereas economic savings are made by employers and society. A change of this mindset is urgently needed.

Journal Reference:
T. Zuberbier, J. Lötvall, S. Simoens, S. V. Subramanian, M. K. Church. Economic burden of inadequate management of allergic diseases in the European Union: a GA2LEN review. Allergy, 2014; DOI: 10.1111/all.12470