Researchers from Bristol examined data from 2,170 patients attending five specialist ME/CFS services to estimate earnings lost as a consequence of ME or CFS and the overall productivity costs to the UK economy. By extrapolating these estimates to the UK population, the researchers estimated that each year 4,424 working age adults with ME or CFS might be referred for specialist assessment, and that this group would have already incurred productivity costs of £102.2 million due to their illness by the time of the assessment.
The researchers believe that the main implication of their findings is that effects on employment and productivity must be accounted for in estimates of the cost-effectiveness of CFS/ME interventions and service provision. Screening for CFS/ME by general practitioners and occupational therapists could be cost-effective in conjunction with early intervention for treating CFS/ME.
In addition to this indirect cost, health resource use and welfare payments impose direct costs, and families of patients must bear the costs of informal care, often reducing their own working hours. In young adults, disruption of education reduces productivity in later years. Above and beyond these financial costs, CFS/ME has a huge impact on quality of life. Research is urgently needed to establish whether wider access and earlier referral to specialist CFS/ME services is a cost-effective way of reducing productivity losses.
