Costs of Rheumatoid Arthritis: New Estimates from the Human Capital Method and Comparison to the Willingness-to-Pay Method

Background . Individuals' valuation of changes in health states in monetary terms have been measured by examining changes in the direct and indirect costs of disease and by the willingness-to-pay (WTP) methodology.Methods . In 2002, a 2-part study was conducted in Quebec. In one part of the study, 121 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients from the McGill University Health Centre were mailed the Stanford Cost Assessment Questionnaire, which enabled the elicitation of direct costs and indirect costs, according to the friction cost and the human capital methods. The other part was a phone survey conducted in a representative sample of the general population and in the same sample of patients, aiming to elicit the societal WTP for a complete cure of RA in the context of 2 different scenarios: a public coverage or private insurance. These estimates were then compared.Results. Estimates of the cost of illness of RA ranged from 11,717 to 28,498 Canadian Dollars (CAD) depending on the method. These estimates are hig...