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Aim: Due to high incidence and disease severity, colorectal cancer is a major public health concern in western countries. Few studies have been devoted to estimating its cost in France. The aim of this study was to analyze the direct (medical) and indirect (short-term disability, long-term disability, premature death) costs of colorectal cancer in France., Methods: This cost-of-illness study was based on data available for 1999. Two evaluation perspectives were considered: French social security system (medical care + daily allowances + disability allowances) and the society (medical care + production losses). Sources of data used in this analysis were: PMSI (hospital care), EPPM-IMS study (ambulatory care) and the GAZEL cohort (short-term disability)., Results: Direct costs of colorectal cancer in France amounted in 1999 to more than 469.7 million euros, of which 98% were induced by hospitalisation (on an outpatient or an inpatient basis). Indirect costs represented in 1999 for the French social security system an amount of 85.9 million, of which 71% were due to disability allowances. Taking into account the society's point of view, indirect costs corresponded to production losses of 528.1 million. Total costs of colorectal cancer amounted 555.5 million for the social security system and 997 million for the society., Conclusion: These results confirm the high economic burden of colorectal cancer for the French social security system and for the society in general.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the cost of the first management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) from the onset of first symptoms until 6 weeks after the diagnosis. This cost was calculated in French francs (FF) for all IBD and namely for Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC), and ulcerative proctitis (UP)., Material and Methods: Data concerning 258 patients were collected by the mean of a standardized questionnaire from 3 different sources: the patient, his general practitioner, and his gastroenterologist., Results: Two hundred and fifty eight patients were included: 144 CD (55.8%), 76 UC (29.5%), 30 UP (11.6%), and 8 chronic unclassifiable colitis (CUC) (3.1%). The mean direct costs of the diagnosis (m +/- SD) were 23,116 +/- 40,820 FF for CD, 10,628 +/- 17,316 FF for UC and 3,451 +/- 2,743 FF for UP. Although unplanned hospitalizations occurred in only 38% of the patients (98/258), they represented the 3/4 of the mean costs: 78.2% for CD and 64% for UC. Indirect costs generated by days off work were 4,719 +/- 6,610 FF for CD, 2,996 +/- 6,897 FF for UC and 1,230 +/- 3,622 FF for UP., Conclusion: The first management of a patient with CD was twice more expensive than the one with UC and 6.5 times than the one with UP.