Table 3.

Evaluation of direct and indirect costs associated with CSU

Evaluation of costs
Data sources
• Medical record abstraction form
• Patient survey
Unit costs
Country-specific unit cost estimates will be applied where available, using standard national sources, e.g.,
• UK National Health Service Reference Costs
• German Einheitlicher Bewertungsmaßstab (Uniform Rating Scale)
• National drug formularies
• National average wage statistics
Direct health care costs (all CSU-related)
• Physician visits, including private practice visits
• Emergency room visits
• Hospitalizations
• Therapies (including drugs, alternative medicine and out-of-pocket expenses)
• Laboratory tests
• Transportation costs
Indirect costs (employed patients; CSU-related)
• Lost productivity due to sick leave and early retirement (analyzed using the friction cost approach)
• Reduced productivity due to reduced performance at work (presenteeism)

CSU chronic spontaneous urticaria