Estimating quality adjusted life years and willingness to pay values for microbiological foodbourne disease ( phase 2 )

The project concerned the economic value of the pain and suffering caused by microbiological foodborne disease in the UK. Two metric were used to measure this burden: money and Quality Adjusted Life Years (QLYs). National primary research was undertaken involving:
Developed Decision Analytic Models for a set of foodborne pathogens and their sequelae;
Generated QALY values for the disease states within the Decision Analytic Models using a combination of literature, expert opinion and patient values;
Produced QALY estimates for sequelae relevant to the set of foodborne pathogens such as Guillain–Barré Syndrome (GBS), Reactive Arthritis (RA), Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS).;
Established how the age of onset of a patient impacts the QALY loss associated with a set of foodborne pathogens;
Conducted primary research using a stated preference survey design to elicit individual willingness to pay Willingness to Pay (WTP) values to avoid microbiological FBD pertaining specifically to the selected pathogens and their sequelae;
Developed an EQ-5D-3L DCE survey tool to allow estimation of the monetary value of a QALY gain; and
Aggregated the QALY and WTP value estimates to the national level for the set of pathogens.

The aggregated monetary value of pain and suffering associated with the 10 pathogens considered was £943.7m.
The largest share of this was attributable to Campylobacter (£424m).

The largest QALY burden of illness is attributable to Campylobacter spp. (72,911 QALYs lost per year) whilst Shigella spp. has the lowest burden.

Listeria monocytogenes has the largest burden per case. This is four times the size of the expected burden of the next most severe pathogen Giardia lamblia.

Age-disaggregated analysis indicate that for Campylobacter spp., Norovirus and Salmonella, the age profile of the burden of illness was similar across four age groups (0-4, 5-15, 16-64 and 65+). For VTEC O157 the highest burden was associated with the elderly, followed by children (5-15).

Final report available at:
https://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/media/document/fs102087p2finrep.pdf