Impact of the financial crisis on COPD burden: Greece as a case study
Poverty and low socioeconomic status have been associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The current financial crisis has forced millions back into poverty. Greece is one of the countries hit the hardest, and is in the middle of a deep ongoing collapse. There have been early repo...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
European Respiratory Society
2018-01-01
|
| Series: | European Respiratory Review |
| Online Access: | http://err.ersjournals.com/content/27/147/170106.full |
| _version_ | 1811226188105908224 |
|---|---|
| author | Ourania S. Kotsiou Spyridon Zouridis Marinos Kosmopoulos Konstantinos I. Gourgoulianis |
| author_facet | Ourania S. Kotsiou Spyridon Zouridis Marinos Kosmopoulos Konstantinos I. Gourgoulianis |
| author_sort | Ourania S. Kotsiou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Poverty and low socioeconomic status have been associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The current financial crisis has forced millions back into poverty. Greece is one of the countries hit the hardest, and is in the middle of a deep ongoing collapse. There have been early reports stating the apparent effects of the Greek downturn on respiratory health. This review summarises the overall impact of the financial crisis on COPD burden throughout the period of economic downturn by analysing the case study of Greece. In all levels of the healthcare system, current economic restrictions have reduced the capacity to prevent, diagnose and treat COPD in parallel with current higher detection rates of COPD. Remarkably, expenditure on healthcare has been reduced by >25%, resulting in major healthcare equipment shortages. Lower wages (by up to 20%) and higher co-payments of up to 25% of a drug's purchase price have led to patients struggling to afford inhaled medications. Treatment nonadherence has been reported, resulting in 11.5% more exacerbations and 14.1% more hospitalisations annually, while the mean cost per severe COPD exacerbation has been approximated as €2600. Greece is a noteworthy example illustrating how COPD burden, quality of care and patients' outcome can be affected by economic crisis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T09:20:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-22443e5d82ff483a9bdf9118afabb806 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0905-9180 1600-0617 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T09:20:07Z |
| publishDate | 2018-01-01 |
| publisher | European Respiratory Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Respiratory Review |
| spelling | doaj.art-22443e5d82ff483a9bdf9118afabb8062022-12-22T03:38:40ZengEuropean Respiratory SocietyEuropean Respiratory Review0905-91801600-06172018-01-012714710.1183/16000617.0106-20170106-2017Impact of the financial crisis on COPD burden: Greece as a case studyOurania S. Kotsiou0Spyridon Zouridis1Marinos Kosmopoulos2Konstantinos I. Gourgoulianis3 Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, BIOPOLIS, Larissa, Greece Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Athens, Greece Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Athens, Greece Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, BIOPOLIS, Larissa, Greece Poverty and low socioeconomic status have been associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The current financial crisis has forced millions back into poverty. Greece is one of the countries hit the hardest, and is in the middle of a deep ongoing collapse. There have been early reports stating the apparent effects of the Greek downturn on respiratory health. This review summarises the overall impact of the financial crisis on COPD burden throughout the period of economic downturn by analysing the case study of Greece. In all levels of the healthcare system, current economic restrictions have reduced the capacity to prevent, diagnose and treat COPD in parallel with current higher detection rates of COPD. Remarkably, expenditure on healthcare has been reduced by >25%, resulting in major healthcare equipment shortages. Lower wages (by up to 20%) and higher co-payments of up to 25% of a drug's purchase price have led to patients struggling to afford inhaled medications. Treatment nonadherence has been reported, resulting in 11.5% more exacerbations and 14.1% more hospitalisations annually, while the mean cost per severe COPD exacerbation has been approximated as €2600. Greece is a noteworthy example illustrating how COPD burden, quality of care and patients' outcome can be affected by economic crisis.http://err.ersjournals.com/content/27/147/170106.full |
| spellingShingle | Ourania S. Kotsiou Spyridon Zouridis Marinos Kosmopoulos Konstantinos I. Gourgoulianis Impact of the financial crisis on COPD burden: Greece as a case study European Respiratory Review |
| title | Impact of the financial crisis on COPD burden: Greece as a case study |
| title_full | Impact of the financial crisis on COPD burden: Greece as a case study |
| title_fullStr | Impact of the financial crisis on COPD burden: Greece as a case study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of the financial crisis on COPD burden: Greece as a case study |
| title_short | Impact of the financial crisis on COPD burden: Greece as a case study |
| title_sort | impact of the financial crisis on copd burden greece as a case study |
| url | http://err.ersjournals.com/content/27/147/170106.full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ouraniaskotsiou impactofthefinancialcrisisoncopdburdengreeceasacasestudy AT spyridonzouridis impactofthefinancialcrisisoncopdburdengreeceasacasestudy AT marinoskosmopoulos impactofthefinancialcrisisoncopdburdengreeceasacasestudy AT konstantinosigourgoulianis impactofthefinancialcrisisoncopdburdengreeceasacasestudy |