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Assessing Medical Expenditures on 4 Smoking-related Diseases, 19962001

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Objective : To examine the current-period cost of treating 4 major smoking-related diseases: lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ischemic heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease.

Methods : Analyses are based on the MarketScan database, a medical claims database from large employers.

Results : We found that total expenditures to treat ischemic heart disease were highest, followed by those to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). When median expenditures per claim and disease severity were considered, lung cancer was the most expensive condition to treat and ischemic heart disease the least expensive. Median treatment expenditures increased as the severity of disease increased.

Conclusion : Treating smoking-related diseases is costly in the currentperiod and over a lifetime.

Keywords: cerebrovascular disease; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; ischemic heart disease; lung cancer; smoking

Document Type: Research Article

Publication date: 01 November 2007

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  • The American Journal of Health Behavior seeks to improve the quality of life through multidisciplinary health efforts in fostering a better understanding of the multidimensional nature of both individuals and social systems as they relate to health behaviors.

    The Journal aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of personal attributes, personality characteristics, behavior patterns, social structure, and processes on health maintenance, health restoration, and health improvement; to disseminate knowledge of holistic, multidisciplinary approaches to designing and implementing effective health programs; and to showcase health behavior analysis skills that have been proven to affect health improvement and recovery.

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