Quality of life and costs of neurosurgical procedures in the treatment of Parkinson's disease

Rising costs in the healthcare system require consideration of economic issues in medical decision-making. Economic analyses of a particular medical intervention measure an essential component of its burden to society beyond the more usual epidemiological estimates of mortality and morbidity, These results may help to determine medical research priorities, provide baselines against which new interventions can be assessed, or point out the economic consequences of a disease which help to establish healthcare priorities to save scarce healthcare resources. in Australia, e.g., studies on the economic impact of a respective drug are required along with effectiveness data for the submission of a new drug. The outcome of a particular intervention are the central measure in cost-effectiveness analyses. Depending on the economic analysis they can be measured as natural units, in money units or using utilities. The latter have a major importance in economic evaluations and are expressed in terms of change of health status or change in the patient's quality of life. Although, economic issues have a particular relevance to Parkinson's disease, they have not been widely explored in this disease. First, Parkinson's disease is a common disorder with a chronic progressive course and therefore its economic impact is high. Second, emerging therapies for Parkinson's disease, like surgical interventions, are highly resource-intensive. and third party payers already require extensive information before providing reimbursement. In this article we will briefly review the existing literature, which evaluate the quality of life and the cost of neurosurgical interventions for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.