Absenteeism due t to Dementia and its Growing Economic Consequences in Slovenia in the Period 2015-2019.

Dementia has been the subject of numerous medical and anthropological studies for more than two decades. This serious neurodegenerative disease that mainly affects the elderly can occur also in people who are still employed which is associated with the impairment of their ability to work and consequently with costs. The aim of our study was to display the economic consequences due to health absenteeism related to dementia in Slovenia in the period from 2015 to 2019. The methodology of direct and indirect costs was used. We limited ourselves to show the indirect cost-health absenteeism due to dementia, which includes loss of goods, services, early retirement, and premature death. The Database on temporary absence from work was used as data source and International Classification of Diseases as the source of the diagnoses. The cost of absenteeism due to dementia amounted to 11% of all calculated indirect costs in the period 2015-2019. All indirect costs amounted to 0.025% of health expenditures. These costs are greatly underestimated due to various data limitations which we faced and due to many cases of undetected disease. The findings are in line with those from some other countries. The rapid diagnosis and treatment of dementia, changes in lifestyle, as well as the encouragement of employers of affected persons to keep them as long as possible active proved to be absolutely necessary in the light of maintenance of quality of life of patients and the reduction of costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demencija je više od dva desetljeća predmet brojnih medicinskih i antropoloških istraživanja. Ova ozbiljna neurodegenerativna bolest koja uglavnom pogađa starije osobe može se pojaviti i kod osoba koje su još uvijek zaposlene, što je povezano s oštećenjem njihove radne sposobnosti, a time i troškovima. Cilj našeg istraživanja bio je prikazati ekonomske posljedice zdravstvenih izostanaka vezanih uz demenciju u Sloveniji u razdoblju od 2015. do 2019. godine. Korištena je metodologija izravnih i neizravnih troškova. Ograničili smo se na prikaz neizravnih troškova, zdravstvenih izostanaka s posla zbog demencije koja uključuje gubitak dobara, usluga, prijevremeno umirovljenje i preranu smrt. Kao izvor podataka korištena je Baza podataka o privremenoj odsutnosti s posla, a kao izvor dijagnoza Međunarodna klasifikacija bolesti. Trošak izostanaka zbog demencije iznosio je 11% svih obračunatih neizravnih troškova u razdoblju 2015.-2019. Svi neizravni troškovi iznosili su 0,025% zdravstvenih izdataka. Ovi troškovi su uvelike podcijenjeni zbog raznih ograničenja podataka s kojima smo se susreli i zbog mnogih slučajeva neotkrivenih bolesti. Nalazi su u skladu s onima iz nekih drugih zemalja. Brza dijagnoza i liječenje demencije, promjena načina života, kao i poticanje poslodavaca oboljelih osoba da ih što duže zadrže aktivnima, pokazali su se prijeko potrebnim u svjetlu održavanja kvalitete života pacijenata i smanjenja troškova. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Collegium Antropologicum is the property of Croatian Anthropological Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)