French M T, Rachal J V, Hubbard R L
Research Triangle Institute, NC 27709.
J Health Soc Policy. 1991;2(3):1-22. doi: 10.1300/J045v02n03_01.
Drug abuse imposes costs on individuals and society. Researchers have produced several studies on a subset of tangible costs of drug abuse and other illnesses, but key tangible costs sometimes have been overlooked and, even when recognized, rarely have been estimated. An assortment of intangible costs also have received very little research attention. This study outlines a comprehensive conceptual framework for estimating the social cost of drug abuse. We address both the tangible and intangible costs for the drug-abusing and non-drug-abusing population. Our conceptual framework is based on critical reviews of new and traditional methods for estimating the costs of illness and disease including cost-of-illness methods, averting behavior methods, and utility valuation techniques. We show how the proposed methods can be combined with existing data to estimate the total social cost of drug abuse. Using social cost estimates will enable policymakers to more accurately assess the total burden of drug abuse and related problems on society.
药物滥用给个人和社会带来了成本。研究人员已经针对药物滥用和其他疾病的一部分有形成本进行了多项研究，但关键的有形成本有时被忽视了，即使被认识到，也很少有人进行估算。各种各样的无形成本也很少受到研究关注。本研究概述了一个用于估算药物滥用社会成本的综合概念框架。我们探讨了药物滥用人群和非药物滥用人群的有形和无形成本。我们的概念框架基于对估算疾病成本的新方法和传统方法的批判性综述，包括疾病成本法、预防行为法和效用评估技术。我们展示了如何将所提出的方法与现有数据相结合，以估算药物滥用的社会总成本。使用社会成本估算将使政策制定者能够更准确地评估药物滥用及相关问题对社会造成的总负担。
