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Causes and cost of respiratory disease
Causes of respiratory disease
- Lung disease is not simply smoking-related. There are a wide range of other factors which impact on lung health, including viral lung infections in childhood; inadequate lung development in childhood; passive smoking; genetics; air pollution; occupational exposure to materials such as dust, asbestos fibres and other irritant particles; nutrition and social deprivation
- There are clear social class gradients in respiratory disease mortality. Social class gradients are steeper for respiratory disease mortality than for mortality in general, with deaths from COPD and TB showing the most marked social class differentials[i]
The cost of respiratory disease
- Respiratory disease costs the NHS and society £6.6 billion, £3 billion in costs to the care system, £1.9 billion in mortality costs and £1.7 billion in illness costs[ii]
- An estimated 24 million consultations with GPs were for respiratory disease in 2004 at a cost of £501 million to primary care[iii]
- Respiratory disease is the second most common illness responsible for emergency admission to hospital[iv]. There are an estimated one million admissions a year for respiratory disease in the UK suggests at a cost of £1,496.4 million to secondary care[v]
- In 2002/2003 nearly 25 million certified sickness absence days related to respiratory disease (not including days lost from self-certified illness). This amounts to an estimated £1,728.5 million of lost production due to respiratory disease[vi]
- Respiratory disease is a ‘hidden disability’. People with lung disease can experience severe restrictions on their mobility and ability to undertake day-to-day activities, such as getting dressed or cooking a meal
[i] British Thoracic Society (2006) - Burden of Lung Disease 2nd Edition
[ii] British Thoracic Society (2006) - Burden of Lung Disease 2nd Edition
[iii] British Thoracic Society (2006) - Burden of Lung Disease 2nd Edition
[iv] British Thoracic Society (2006) - Burden of Lung Disease 2nd Edition
[v] British Thoracic Society (2006) - Burden of Lung Disease 2nd Edition
[vi] British Thoracic Society (2006) - Burden of Lung Disease 2nd Edition