Annals of the rheumatic diseases
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Costs of rheumatoid arthritis in Germany: a micro-costing approach based on healthcare payer's data sources.
To develop a systematic set of German cost data in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) based solely on valid healthcare payer's cost data sources. ⋯ Micro-costing based on healthcare payer's data provides a relatively conservative albeit highly accurate estimate of costs in RA. Both RA related and non-RA related costs must be taken into account. In gainfully employed patients and in patients who receive RA related retirement payments productivity costs exceed direct costs.