Hospitalization costs and estimates of direct and indirect economic losses due to injury sustained in road traffic crashes: Results from a one-year cohort study in three European countries (The REHABILAID project):

IntroductionThe financial cost of injuries sustained in road traffic crashes is high for victims, families and national budgets, but there is limited information on the cost of injury from the victims’ perspective, especially in terms of the hard-to-reach multi-trauma patient population such as those admitted to the intensive care units of hospitals.Materials and methodsThe current study received funding by the European Commission Directorate-General Mobility and Transport. It is a prospective, prevalence-based, cost-of-illness study. Participants admitted in the intensive care units of seven public hospitals in Greece, Germany and Italy because of injuries from road traffic crashes, during one year, were enrolled in the study. Patients were followed-up for one year after the intensive care unit admission to report emerging direct and indirect costs related to their injury.ResultsA total of 120 people were enrolled. Males, those aged 25–49, motorcyclists and those severely injured (Maximum Abbreviated Inj...