The Cost of Ménière’s Disease: A Novel Multisource Approach

Objectives: To estimate the annual cost of Ménière’s disease and the cost per person in the UK population and to investigate the direct and indirect costs of the condition. Design: The authors utilized a multidata approach to provide the first estimate of the cost of Ménière’s. Data from the UK Biobank (a study of 500,000 individuals collected between 2007 and 2012), the Hospital Episode Statistics (data on all hospital admissions in England from 2008 to 2012) and the UK Ménière’s Society (2014) were used to estimate the cost of Ménière’s. Cases were self-reported in the UK Biobank and UK Ménière’s Society, within the Hospital Episode Statistics cases were clinician diagnosed. The authors estimated the direct and indirect costs of the condition, using count data to represent numbers of individuals reporting specific treatments, operations etc. and basic statistical analyses (χ2 tests, linear and logistic regression) to compare cases and controls in the UK Biobank. Results: Ménière’s was estimated to cost between £541.30 million and £608.70 million annually (equivalent to US $829.9 to $934.2 million), equating to £3,341 to £3,757 ($5112 to $5748) per person per annum. The indirect costs were substantial, with loss of earnings contributing to over £400 million per annum. Conclusions: For the first time, the authors were able to estimate the economic burden of Ménière’s disease. In the UK, the annual cost of this condition is substantial. Further research is required to develop cost–effective treatments and management strategies for Ménière’s to reduce the economic burden of the disease. These findings should be interpreted with caution due to the uncertainties inherent in the analysis.