Reawakening Australia: The economic cost of sleep disorders in AustraliaNew sleep disorders research quantifies health care and indirect costs |
More than 1.5 million Australian adults - 9% of the adult population - suffer from sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep apnoea, insomnia and restless leg syndrome. In total, sleep disorders cost the Australian economy more than $5.1 billion a year in health care and indirect costs.
Of the more than $800 million of direct health system costs annually, $270 million is spent caring for sleep disorders with another $540 million spent in health care costs for associated conditions. Of the $4.3 billion per year of indirect costs, $3.1 billion relate to lost productivity with a further $650 million related to informal care and other indirect costs associated with motor vehicle and workplace accidents.
This report by Deloitte Access Economics, undertaken for the Sleep Health Foundation - a not-for-profit organisation set up to raise awareness of the issues associated with sleep disorders - also quantifies the contribution of sleep disorders to other diseases and injuries including depression, stroke, workplace injuries and motor accidents.
The report is structured as follows:
| Executive summary | |
| Section 1: | Sleep disorders in Australia – prevalence, in children, relation to other health conditions and risk of accidents |
| Section 2: | Population attributable factors – methodology, cardiovascular disease, depression, injuries |
| Section 3: | Health costs of sleep disorders |
| Section 4 | Indirect costs – productivity, informal care, other costs of motor vehicle accidents, workplace accidents, deadweight loss |
| Section 5: | Burden of disease – methodology, disability weights, loss in the stock of health capital |
| Section 6: | Cost effectiveness of CPAP – description, safety and efficacy of CPAP therapy |
| Section 7: | Comparisons and opportunities |
| References | |
Reawakening Australia: The economic cost of sleep disorders in Australia
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