PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
24-Oct-2014
Contact: Lucy Handford media@monash.edu Monash University @MonashUni
New data shows that healthcare and personal costs to support survivors of stroke remains high 10 years on.
The Monash University research, published today in the journal Stroke, is the first to look at the long-term costs for the two main causes of stroke; ischemic where the blood supply stops due to a blood clot, and hemorrhagic, which occurs when a weakened blood vessel supplying the brain bursts.
Previous studies based on estimating the lifetime costs using patient data up to 5 years after a stroke, suggested that costs peaked in the first year and then declined in subsequent years.
The new findings, led by Associate Professor Dominique Cadilhac and Professor Amanda Thrift from the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, provides evidence that healthcare and personal expenses associated with a stroke continue to be substantial over time. The greatest ongoing costs being for aged care facilities and informal care.
243 patients who experienced an ischemic stroke the most common type of stroke, and 43 patients with intracerebral hemorrhage stroke who went on to survive for 10 years or more were interviewed to calculate annual costs as part of the North East Melbourne Stroke Incidence Study.
Average annual healthcare costs 10 years after an ischemic stroke were $5,418 (AUD) broadly similar to costs estimated between 3 and 5 years ($5,545).
Whereas previous estimates for annual healthcare costs for intracerebral hemorrhage stroke ten years after stroke onset were $6,101, Professor Cadilhac's team found the true cost was $9,032 far higher than costs calculated at 3 to 5 years ($6,101) because of a greater need for aged care facilities 10 years on.
The rest is here:
Medical costs for stroke survivors stay high 10 years on