THE ECONOMICS OF BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA TREATMENT - A LITERATURE-REVIEW

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is one of the most common benign ne oplasms in elderly men in the United States; it has been estimated tha t the annual costs of caring for these men exceed $4 billion. This con dition is rarely life threatening, but often affects the individual's quality of life in varying degrees. There are several treatments for t his condition, including surgery, with the most common procedure being transurethral resection of the prostate. Other treatment options incl ude medication (such as finasteride and terazosin), balloon dilation, and watchful waiting. The cost associated with BPH depends on the seve rity of the disease and the appropriate course of treatment. The objec tive of this paper is to identify and evaluate the economic research p apers that have considered either the economic burden or costs associa ted with alternative BPH therapy options and to identify key areas for future economic research. This review indicates that the economic stu dies of BPH are diverse in nature and greater attention needs to be pl aced on the societal appraisal of competing BPH therapies. Other resea rch areas include the economic analysis of both short- and long-run BP H treatment options, increased cost-utility analysis, and the use of r etrospective claims database analysis using regression techniques.