Costs of Illness for Huntington's Disease: A Systematic Review.

Background: Huntington's disease (HD) is associated with significant financial burden for patients and payers. The objective was to identify and quantify costs of HD by stage of disease progression.

Methods: A systematic search of Medline, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane Library was used to identify types of costs that are frequently reported for individuals diagnosed with HD and to quantify those costs across early, middle, and late stages of HD. Full-text, original research articles were included if they reported costs specific to HD burden. To standardize stage-level costs, Shoulson Fahn and Barthel Index scores were combined to estimate the cost for early, middle-, and late-stage HD.

Results: A total of 692 abstracts were identifie,d and following abstract screening, a total of 80 full-text articles were reviewed for inclusion. Only five studies were included for extraction and synthesis including three from the USA, one from the United Kingdom (UK), and one from Peru. Annual inpatient, outpatient, drug costs, and caregiving costs all increased substantially as disease progressed. Outpatient costs were approximately 2.5 times greater than inpatient costs for early and middle stages of HD. Among all the costs associated with HD, annual caregiver cost emerges as the most significant costs in the economic burden of HD, ranging from a minimum of $6041 for early stage to a maximum of $133,200 for late-stage HD. Significant variation was observed across studies, especially comparing costs observed in Peru with the USA and UK.

Conclusion: Outpatient costs exceed inpatient costs, especially in early and middle stages, underscoring the importance of outpatient care. All costs seem to rise rapidly, in a nonlinear fashion, as patients advance to later stages. While only two studies reported caregiver burden, these costs were significanly higher in the most severe stage, where patients were completely dependent on a caregiver. This review highlights the complexity of cost assessment in HD and underscores the need for consistent methods and further research to guide effective policy actions.