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Costs to treat stroke projected to double by 2030
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The cost of stroke care may double within the next 20 years, according to a report from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association.
By 2030, it is projected that:
- 3.88% of the adults US population will have a stroke. This translates to an additional 3.4 million people with stroke.
- Total direct annual stroke-related medical costs will increase from $71.55 billion to $183.13 billion.
- Real direct annual costs of stroke will increase from $33.65 billion to $56.54 billion due to lost productivity.
- Overall total annual costs of stroke will rise 129%.
Americans currently aged 45 to 64 years are expected to have the highest increase in stroke (5.1%) by 2030. Stroke prevalence is projected to increase the most among Hispanic men, and the cost of treating stroke in Hispanic women is expected to triple, according to a press release.
“With the aging population, stroke incidence and costs are projected to rise substantially in the future and, as such, the prevention of high risk through improvements in cardiovascular health and the reduction of risks for stroke by use of primary prevention strategies, as well as mitigation of stroke mortality and long-term disability by evidence-based acute and postdischarge treatments, are all imperative to address the anticipated rise in the human, economic and societal burden of stroke,” the authors wrote in the policy statement.
The report used methodology developed by the AHA/ASA, data extracted from the 1999-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and Census Bureau projected population counts for 2012-2013 to estimate the future of stroke-related care.
“These projections suggest that the annual costs of stroke will increase substantially over the next 2 decades,” the authors wrote. “Greater emphasis on implementing effective preventive, acute care and rehabilitation services will have both medical and societal benefits.”
Disclosure: See the statement for the authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
Perspective
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Jeffrey L. Frank, MD
Better education of physicians and well-directed research may help reduce the economic burden of stroke. This statement should serve as a call to action to decrease the economic burden by lessening disability from stroke. The economic burden is primarily related to costs of disability in terms of productivity and health care dollars to support disabled patients.
This type of study would be meaningless were it not for the fact that we have pathways to reduce this kind of burden in the future. Such pathways are at our fingertips. One such tool is community education to decrease risk factors for stroke, such as hypertension and smoking, and to maintain a healthy lifestyle for good CV health. These kinds of lifestyle changes must be embraced early in life. Focusing public education efforts on children, parents and young adults and having resources available to help make these modifications can pay for itself in the long run.
We have treatments available to prevent and reduce the incidence of stroke and, thus, the economic burden. These include safe anticoagulation in patients with AF and antiplatelet therapy. We also have acute treatments to open blood vessels after ischemic stroke and exciting treatments to obliterate aneurysms in the brain that may predispose patients to hemorrhagic stroke. The best way for such treatments to be employed is for physicians to remain up to date on the benefits and associated risks.
With better community education, better public awareness, and use of better tools to prevent and treat stroke we can decrease the long-term economic burden of stroke on our society.
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