|
News Briefs...
February 5, 2004
"Estimating the Economic Impact of Secondhand Smoke on the Health
Community"
 "Estimating
the Economic Impact of Secondhand Smoke on the Health Community" was
published in the Jan/Feb 2004 American Journal of Health
Promotion. The purpose of this study provides a model to
estimate the health-related costs of secondhand smoke exposure at a
community level.
- Model Development: Costs of
secondhand smoke-related mortality and morbidity were estimated
using national attributable risk values for diseases that are
casually related to secondhand smoke exposure for adults and
children. Estimated costs include ambulatory care costs, hospital
inpatient costs, and loss of life costs based on vital statistics,
hospital discharge data, and census data.
- Application of the Model:
The model was used to estimate health-related costs estimates of
secondhand smoke exposure for Marion County, Indiana. Attributable
risk values were applied to the number of deaths and hospital
discharges to determine the number of individuals impacted by
secondhand smoke exposure.
- Results: The overall cost
of health care and premature loss of life attributed to secondhand
smoke for the study county was estimated to be $53.9 million in
2000--$10.5 million in health care costs and $20.3 million in loss
of life for children compared with $6.2 million in health care
costs and $16.9 million in loss of life for adults. This amounted
to $62.68 per capita.
To order reprints of this article
please visit the website of the
American Journal of Health Promotion.
For additional information, please
email us bowenctr@iupui.edu.
About the authors:
-
Terrell W. Zollinger, Dr.P.H., Professor, IU School of
Medicine and Associate Director,
Bowen Research Center
-
Robert M. Saywell, Jr., Ph.D., M.P.H., Professor, Department
of Family Medicine and Senior Investigator,
Bowen Research Center
- Amanda D. Overgaard, B.S.,
student, Indiana University M.P.H. program
- Stephen J. Jay, M.D., Professor
and Chair,
Department of Public Health
-
Angela M. Holloway, M.H.A.,
Assistant
Director of Academic and Community Affairs, Indiana Area
Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program
- Sandra F. Cummings, M.S.W.,
Director of the
Chronic
Disease Section,
Marion County
Health Department
<back to
DFM home page>
|
|