The following is a summary of “Economic Cost of Functional Neurologic Disorders: A Systematic Review,” published in the June 2023 issue of Neurology by O’Mahony et al.
Functional neurological disorder (FND) is a neurological disorder that causes involuntary symptoms such as seizures, weakness, and sensory disturbance.
Researchers performed a retrospective study using the PRISMA guidelines to identify and evaluate studies on the economic costs of FND and cost-effective treatments. Study group searched electronic databases (PsycInfo, Medline, EMBASE, and the National Health Service Economic Evaluations Database of the University of York) for original research publications with the key search terms of FND, conversion disorder, and functional seizures from inception to April 8, 2022. They also conducted a hand search of conference abstracts.
Performed conducted a descriptive and thematic analysis of 3,244 studies on neurological disorders. They excluded reviews, case reports, case series, and qualitative studies. The final analysis included 16 studies, 4 of which were cost-of-illness (COI) studies conducted alongside cohort studies without intervention. These COI studies included a comparator group, such as another neurological disorder. The other 12 studies were economic evaluations (EE) of interventions 6 of these studies were pre-post cohort studies, 2 were randomized controlled trials, 5 assessed active interventions, and 3 assessed costs before and after a definitive diagnosis of FND. Studies showed FND has a high annual cost ($4,964 to $86,722). This includes both direct and indirect costs. Interventions, including a definitive diagnosis, could reduce this cost (9% to 90.7%). No cost-effective treatments were identified. Study comparison was limited by study design and location heterogeneity.
They concluded FND has high economic costs for patients and taxpayers. Interventions, including accurate diagnosis, may help reduce costs.
Source: n.neurology.org/content/early/2023/06/20/WNL.0000000000207388
