Societal cost of childhood intellectual disability in Australia.
Childhood intellectual disability costs Australia 12.5 billion AUD each year—use these numbers to fight for early ABA funding.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team added up every dollar linked to childhood intellectual disability in Australia. They counted hospital stays, therapy visits, special buses, lost wages, and more.
Using government records, they priced one year of life with ID for each child and for the whole country.
What they found
One child with ID costs about 72,000 AUD per year. All children with ID together cost Australia 12.5 billion AUD annually.
Most money did not go to medical bills; it went to extra help families need and income parents lose when they cut work hours.
How this fits with other research
Leung et al. (2011) found ID touches roughly 1 in 100 kids worldwide. That prevalence number is the base Hutchins et al. (2020) used to scale up the national price tag.
Oeseburg et al. (2011) show epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and anxiety ride along with ID. These added health problems help explain why the yearly cost per child is so high.
Granillo et al. (2022) warn that clinics miss 60% of ID cases. If many kids are unseen, the true national cost is likely bigger than the 12.5 billion AUD figure.
Mansell et al. (2002) found two-thirds of youth with ID get zero mental-health care. Those hidden gaps likely feed the “lost productivity” slice of the price tag.
Why it matters
You now have hard currency to show funders what ID really costs. When you write a budget request, drop the 72k and 12.5b numbers into your justification. Push for early, intense ABA: every dollar spent up front may shave thousands off the lifetime bill.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: There is limited research quantifying the direct and indirect economic costs associated with intellectual disability (ID) in Australia. Costs incurred by families, governments and broader society include time spent providing care, absenteeism and increased healthcare utilisation. The purpose of this research is to quantify the costs associated with ID in childhood using a range of methods to collect cost data. METHODS: Costs included healthcare service utilisation, pharmaceutical use, caregiver productivity losses and time spent providing care because of the child's disability. The sample comprised caregivers with a child with ID aged between 2 and 10 years old recruited in Australia. Healthcare service utilisation and pharmaceutical use were obtained from routinely collected administrative claims data. Healthcare utilisation not captured in the routinely collected administrative data and absenteeism data were obtained from a retrospective recall-based questionnaire. Time spent providing care because of the child's disability was obtained using a time-use diary. RESULTS: The total cost of ID in Australia was estimated to be AUD 72 027 per year per child, and the total cost of ID in childhood was estimated to be AUD 12.5 billion per year. The cost to governments of ID in childhood was estimated to be AUD 6385 per child per year, resulting in a total cost to government of AUD 1.1 billion per year. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to estimate the direct and indirect costs associated with ID in childhood. The results of this research demonstrate the considerable economic impact of ID in childhood on families, governments and broader society in terms of both direct and indirect costs. An understanding of the cost implications of any intervention are critical in assisting policymakers in planning and prioritising of health services.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2020 · doi:10.1111/jir.12732