Abstracts

There are no recent studies on the direct and indirect costs of epilepsy in Germany. Therefore, we performed a pilot study to estimate these costs of epilepsy in a German epilepsy center., A prevalence-based, cross-sectional convenience cohort of adults attending the outpatient clinic of our tertiary epilepsy center was evaluated. Seizure-free patients and patients presenting with their first seizure were excluded. Direct and indirect costs were prospectively recorded over a three months period using questionnaires and a patient diary. Cost driving factors were identified., 101 patients were included (40.7[plusmn]15.2 years; disease duration: 18.1[plusmn]15.3 years; 6 patients had focal epilepsy with simple partial seizures only, 28 with complex partial seizures, 43 with secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures; 20 had idiopathic generalized epilepsy). The total costs of epilepsy per patient were in average [euro] 2550 [plusmn] 4200 over the three months period. Direct cost contributed 41% to the total costs. Costs of anticonvulsant medication were the main contributor to the direct costs while indirect costs were caused mainly by losses due to early retirement. Cost driving factors included higher seizure frequency, longer disease duration, ictal falls and inadequate behavior., Indirect costs were higher than direct costs in adult patients with active epilepsy attending a German epilepsy center. Medication contributed the most to the direct costs and early retirement was the main factor for the indirect costs. The costs of epilepsy in this German study were above average of the European costs of epilepsy.,