The estimated economic value of the welfare loss due to prostate cancer pain in a defined population

The aim of the study reported here was to estimate the economic value of the welfare loss due to prostate cancer pain by estimating the extent to which pain affects health-related quality of life among patients with prostate cancer. The material consisted of a point estimate of health status among men with prostate cancer in a well-defined population of 200 000 males. Clinical data concerning the disease at diagnosis (extracted from patients’ records and the Regional Prostate Cancer Registry), and health utility ratings (using EuroQol) were obtained from 1 156 males with prostate cancer. A descriptive model showed that optimal treatment that would reduce pain to zero during the whole episode of disease would add on average 0.85 quality-adjusted life years (QALY) to every man with prostate cancer. Based on an estimate of the willingness to pay for a QALY the economic value of this welfare loss due to prostate cancer pain is in the magnitude of €86 600 000 per year (€19 800 000 per million men in Sweden).

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