The societal burden of alcohol misuse: literature review and cost of alcohol related hospitalisation in Skåne, Sweden - 2003

Abstract: This essay aims to estimate the cost of hospitalisation in 2003 for Region Skåne for diseases fully attributable to alcohol. An included review of cost-of-illness studies of societal costs of alcohol misuse reaches the conclusions that comparability between studies has increased in recent years as a result, among others, of the establishing of international guidelines. Despite this, some problems remain, mainly concerning cost components, indirect methodology and discounting. The cost to Region Skåne totals 78.4 millions. The male proportion is around 70% both for costs and patient cases while women’s treatment on average is more expensive. The costs are evenly divided between somatic and psychiatric care and for diagnoses are the highest costs found for “mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol abuse”. When measuring costs per capita for municipalities, it could be concluded that small urban areas are necessary but not sufficient for having low per capita costs.