BCN HEALTH publishes a study evaluating the costs due to productivity losses associated to cirrhosis in Spain

BCN HEALTH has published the study ‘Quantifying the economic impact of premature mortality from cirrhosis in Spain’ in Current Medical Research and Opinion, an international peer-reviewed journal interested in new drug research, public health and epidemiological studies.

BCN HEALTH conducted an analysis of the productivity losses associated to premature mortality from cirrhosis in Spain between 2013 and 2022. This analysis was based in the human capital approach, which estimates the indirect costs that the disease represents for the individual, family, society or employer via the calculation of the income and productivity of an individual that are prevented when premature death occurs. To this end, statistics on mortality and salaries were extracted from the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE). The costs of premature mortality were estimated using age- and sex-specific annual wages from death age to age of retirement.

Cirrhosis caused 46,713 deaths over the study period with a slight annual decline, predominantly affecting men. Approximately 50% of deaths in men occurred in people of working age, while in women it only affected 30% of people of working age. In 2013 there were a total of 28,095 years of potential life lost, decreasing to a total of 16,798 in 2022. In economic terms, deaths from cirrhosis represented a cost of 2278.46 million euros in 2013, increasing to 2479.11 million euros in 2021. These findings underline the need for improved public health measures, including widespread screening, early diagnosis and improved access to alcohol cessation programs.

More information can be found at https://doi.org/10.1080/03007995.2025.2480187 .