Economic Costs of Overactive Bladder in the United States

Objectives

To calculate, from a societal perspective, current direct (medical and nonmedical) and indirect costs of overactive bladder (OAB) in the United States and project them to future years. Existing cost assessments of OAB in the United States are incomplete and outdated.

Methods

A prevalence-based model was developed incorporating age- and sex-specific OAB prevalence rates, usage data, and productivity data. On the basis of the information gathered from the recent 5 years of the medical literature, practice guidelines, Medicare and managed care fee schedules, and expert panel input, the annual per capita and total US costs were calculated for 2007. US census population forecasts were used to project the costs of OAB to 2015 and 2020.

Results

In 2007, average annual per capita costs of OAB were $1925 ($1433 in direct medical, $66 in direct nonmedical, and $426 in indirect costs). Applying these costs to the 34 million people in the United States with OAB results in total national costs of $65.9 billion (billion = 1000 million), ($49.1 billion direct medical, $2.3 billion direct nonmedical, and $14.6 billion indirect). Average annual per capita costs in 2015 and 2020 would be $1944 and $1969 and total national costs would be $76.2 billion and $82.6 billion, respectively.

Conclusions

These data suggest that the economic burden of OAB is about 5-fold higher than older, noncomprehensive estimates. These costs are higher than previously published data for the United States and Europe because this analysis relies on more current data, real world age- and sex-specific treatment patterns and costs, and includes a more complete set of cost components.