Quality of life and health economics in chILD
Interstitial lung diseases in infants and children are a huge burden for the children and their families. Due to the mostly chronic character and high morbidity, for example, the health-related quality of life is reduced in these children and the costs of care are estimated to be high due to medication, inpatient and outpatient treatment and a high amount of care.
The aim of chiLDEU.net is to gather information on quality of life as well as on utilisation of health care as little is known on these aspects.
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Health-related quality of life
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Cost-of-illness
We will analyse healthcare utilisation in ILD children using questionnaires and calculate resulting costs of care. Findings on utilisation will be compared for different European countries. Furthermore indirect costs resulting out of possible work absenteeism of parents caring for ILD children will be estimated.
Insights in costs of ILD point out the impact of these diseases on health care systems and society. Furthermore, they provide a basis for understanding the allocation of health care resources and therefore can optimise healthcare. Regarding rare childhood interstitial lung diseases a cost-of-illness study could help to raise awareness of these rare diseases. The results can also be used in economic evaluation studies, e.g. modelling of the cost-effectiveness of interventions into child.
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