Measuring health spillovers for economic evaluation: A case study in meningitis

Al-Janabi, H., Van Exel, J., Brouwer, W., Trotter, C., Glennie, L., Hannigan, L. and Coast, J. (2016) Measuring health spillovers for economic evaluation: A case study in meningitis. Health Economics, 25(12), pp. 1529-1544. (doi: 10.1002/hec.3259) (PMID:26464311) (PMCID:PMC5111598)

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Abstract

The health of carers and others close to the patient will often be relevant to economic evaluation, but it is very rarely considered in practice. This may reflect a lack of understanding of how the spillover effect of illness can be appropriately quantified. In this study we used three different approaches to quantify health spillovers resulting from meningitis. We conducted a survey of 1218 family networks affected by meningitis and used regression modelling to estimate spillover effects. The findings show that meningitis had long‐term effects on family members' health, particularly affecting the likelihood of family members reporting anxiety and depression. These effects extended beyond a single close family member. These findings suggest that vaccinating against meningitis will bring significant health benefits not just to those that might have contracted the illness but also to their family networks. In methodological terms, different approaches for quantifying health spillovers provided broadly consistent results. The choice of method will be influenced by the ease of collecting primary data from family members in intervention contexts.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Hannigan, Dr Laurie
Authors: Al-Janabi, H., Van Exel, J., Brouwer, W., Trotter, C., Glennie, L., Hannigan, L., and Coast, J.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Public Health
Journal Name:Health Economics
Publisher:Wiley
ISSN:1057-9230
ISSN (Online):1099-1050
Published Online:14 October 2015
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2015 The Authors
First Published:First published in Health Economics 25(12):1529-1544
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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