Health Economics and Outcomes Research Department, Abbott Laboratories Limited, Maidenhead, UK.
Rheumatology (Oxford). 2011 Jun;50(6):1083-90. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keq399. Epub 2011 Jan 18.
In light of the large number of recent studies and systematic reviews investigating the cost of RA, this article examines the methods used to assess the impact of RA on employment and work productivity, and provides an overview of the issues surrounding work productivity loss in the RA population.
A review of the published literature was conducted in order to identify relevant articles. These articles were then reviewed and their methodologies compared. The various methods used to calculate economic loss were then explained and discussed.
We found that although methods of lost productivity and associated costs varied between studies, all suggest that RA is associated with significant burden of illness. Economic analyses that exclude indirect costs will therefore underestimate the full economic impact of RA. However, the methods used to calculate productivity loss have a significant impact on the results of indirect cost analyses, and should be selected carefully when designing such studies. Several factors relating to the disease, the job and socio-demographics have been found to predict work disability.
Consideration of these factors is vital when measuring the extent of both absenteeism and presenteeism, and will allow for more accurate estimation of the impact of RA on work productivity. This information may also guide interventions aiming to prevent or postpone work disability and job loss.
鉴于最近有大量研究和系统评价探讨类风湿关节炎（RA）的成本，本文检查了评估 RA 对就业和工作生产力影响的方法，并概述了 RA 人群中工作生产力损失的相关问题。
进行了已发表文献的综述，以确定相关文章。然后对这些文章进行了回顾，并比较了它们的方法。然后解释和讨论了计算经济损失的各种方法。
我们发现，尽管生产力损失的方法和相关成本在研究之间存在差异，但都表明 RA 与重大疾病负担相关。因此，排除间接成本的经济分析将低估 RA 的全部经济影响。然而，用于计算生产力损失的方法对间接成本分析的结果有重大影响，在设计此类研究时应谨慎选择。已发现与疾病、工作和社会人口统计学相关的几个因素可预测工作残疾。
在衡量旷工和在职缺勤的程度时，考虑这些因素至关重要，这将更准确地估计 RA 对工作生产力的影响。这些信息还可以指导旨在预防或推迟工作残疾和失业的干预措施。
