IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/hecrev/v7y2017i1d10.1186_s13561-017-0145-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Costs of productivity loss due to occupational cancer in Canada: estimation using claims data from Workers’ Compensation Boards

Author

Listed:
  • W. Dominika Wranik

    (Dalhousie University)

  • Adam Muir

    (Dalhousie University)

  • Min Hu

    (Dalhousie University)

Abstract

Introduction Cancer is a leading cause of illness globally, yet our understanding of the financial implications of cancer caused by working conditions and environments is limited. The goal of this study is to estimate the costs of productivity losses due to occupational cancer in Canada, and to evaluate the factors associated with these costs. Methods Two sources of data are used: (i) Individual level administrative claims data from the Workers Compensation Board of Nova Scotia; and (ii) provincial aggregated cancer claims statistics from the Association of Workers Compensation Boards of Canada. Benefits paid to claimants are based on actuarial estimates of wage-loss, but do not include medical costs that are covered by the Canadian publicly funded healthcare system. Regional claims level data are used to estimate the total and average (per claim) cost of occupational cancer to the insurance system, and to assess which characteristics of the claim/claimant influence costs. Cost estimates from one region are weighted using regional multipliers to adjust for system differences between regions, and extrapolated to estimate national costs of occupational cancer. Results/Discussion We estimate that the total cost of occupational cancer to the Workers’ Compensation system in Canada between 1996 and 2013 was $1.2 billion. The average annual cost was $68 million. The cancer being identified as asbestos related were significantly positively associated with costs, whereas the age of the claimant was significantly negatively associated with costs. The industry type/region, injury type or part of body affected by cancer were not significant cost determinants. Conclusion Given the severity of the cancer burden, it is important to understand the financial implications of the disease on workers. Our study shows that productivity losses associated with cancer in the workplace are not negligible, particularly for workers exposed to asbestos.

Suggested Citation

  • W. Dominika Wranik & Adam Muir & Min Hu, 2017. "Costs of productivity loss due to occupational cancer in Canada: estimation using claims data from Workers’ Compensation Boards," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:hecrev:v:7:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1186_s13561-017-0145-7
    DOI: 10.1186/s13561-017-0145-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s13561-017-0145-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1186/s13561-017-0145-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hassan Serrier & Hélène Sultan-Taieb & Danièle Luce & Sophie Bejean, 2014. "Estimating the social cost of respiratory cancer cases attributable to occupational exposures in France," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 15(6), pages 661-673, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tae-Young Pak & Hyungsoo Kim & Kyoung Tae Kim, 2020. "The long-term effects of cancer survivorship on household assets," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jamison Pike & Scott D. Grosse, 2018. "Friction Cost Estimates of Productivity Costs in Cost-of-Illness Studies in Comparison with Human Capital Estimates: A Review," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 16(6), pages 765-778, December.
    2. Mennini, Francesco Saverio & Gitto, Lara, 2022. "Approaches to Estimating Indirect Costs in Healthcare: Motivations for Choice," MPRA Paper 112129, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Erika Wissinger & Ingolf Griebsch & Juliane Lungershausen & Talia Foster & Chris Pashos, 2014. "The Economic Burden of Head and Neck Cancer: A Systematic Literature Review," PharmacoEconomics, Springer, vol. 32(9), pages 865-882, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:hecrev:v:7:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1186_s13561-017-0145-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/13561 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.