Background: Von Willebrand disease (VWD) is one of the most common inherited bleeding disorders, imposing a substantial health impact and financial burden. The Cost of von Willebrand disease in Europe: A Socioeconomic Study (CVESS) characterises the socio-economic cost of VWD across Germany, Spain, Italy, France, and the UK.
Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional design captured 12 months of patient disease management, collected from August-December 2018, for 974 patients. This enabled estimation of direct medical, direct non-medical and indirect costs, utilising prevalence estimates to extrapolate to population level.
Results: Total annual direct medical cost (including/excluding von Willebrand factor [VWF]) across all countries was the highest cost (€2 845 510 345/€444 446 023), followed by indirect costs (€367 330 271) and direct non-medical costs (€60 223 234). Differences were seen between countries: the UK had the highest direct medical costs excluding VWF (€159 791 064), Italy the highest direct-non medical (€26 564 496), and Germany the highest indirect cost burden (€197 036 052). Total direct medical costs per adult patient increased across VWD types with Type 1 having the lowest cost (€23 287) and Type 3 having the highest cost (€133 518).
Conclusion: A substantial financial burden arises from the prevalence of VWD for the European healthcare systems considered.
Keywords: Europe; Von Willebrand disease; burden; cost.